At least 22 migrants were killed and 65 others injured when a truck overturned in Ethiopia’s northern Afar region, local authorities said on Tuesday. The accident occurred near Semera, several hundred kilometers west of neighboring Djibouti. According to officials, the victims had fallen prey to traffickers and were unaware of the dangers of the route. The injured were taken to Dubti Referral Hospital for full medical treatment, and the regional government expressed condolences to the victims’ families.

Ethiopia is one of the main transit routes for migrants from the Horn of Africa seeking work in Gulf countries. Thousands of migrants from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti travel this route, often moving from Djibouti to Yemen and then to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. However, the route used by traffickers to move Ethiopian migrants toward Djibouti is considered extremely dangerous.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 890 people died on this route between January and February 2025, making it one of the world’s most perilous migration paths.