A cargo lorry packed with about 85 Ethiopian migrants overturned on a highway in the northern Afar region on Tuesday, killing at least 22 people and injuring 65 others, local authorities said.
The crash happened early in Semera, several hundred kilometres west of the Djibouti border, as the group — mostly young people seeking work in Gulf states — travelled the perilous Eastern migration route.
Afar official Mohammed Ali Biedo described the incident as “horrific”, blaming overcrowding and deception by illegal brokers. “The accident occurred when a lorry transporting migrants, misled by illegal brokers and unaware of the dangers of their journey, overturned,” he said. Thirty injured were in critical condition and receiving care at Doubtee Referral Hospital.
A photo from the Afar communications bureau showed the wrecked lorry on its side with severe damage to the passenger and rear sections.
Deadly Eastern Route
The tragedy reflects the extreme risks on the Eastern Route, one of the world’s busiest and most dangerous migration paths. Migrants from Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and other Horn of Africa countries pay smugglers to reach Djibouti, then cross the Red Sea to Yemen in overcrowded boats before seeking jobs in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports a 24 percent rise in tracked movements along the route in the first nine months of 2025, from 283,100 in 2024 to 351,000. The increase stems from resumed data collection in Yemen, faster transits and route shifts to evade controls.
The death toll is alarming: 890 deaths and disappearances recorded from January to September 2025 — more than double the 421 in the same period of 2024 — marking the highest annual figure since records began.
Despite the dangers, the route remains popular, driven by poverty in Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation with about 130 million people. More than 40 percent live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank, fuelling youth unemployment and desperation that unscrupulous brokers exploit.
The Afar regional government urged citizens to avoid human trafficking and pledged stronger enforcement to prevent future tragedies.
