139 migrants, including children, die after boat capsizes off Djibouti

GENEVA (AP) — At least 139 people, including children, have died after a boat carrying more than 300 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti in east Africa, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Sunday.

That number only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti.

Others have been buried by the migrants themselves, but they will not be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies, Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the Associated Press.

“What is terrible is that they were buried with no names, in a common grave, like in a war situation,” said Coissac.

“They all have a mother, a father, and we may never learn what happened.”

Coissac said the migrants boarded the ship in the evening on October 8 and that it sank close to the shore soon after “mainly because it was overcrowded.”

“The local authorities did their best,” Coissac said.

“But they were overwhelmed with all the bodies that kept coming towards the shore at once.”

He said authorities were taking surviving migrants to the IOM rescue centre in Obock where they will receive medical assistance after swallowing sea water, and psychological support.

“They’re all in a state of shock,” said Coissac, who visited the area of the shipwreck Saturday.

“I tried to talk to some of them, but it was very difficult.”

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