Truck crash in Ethiopia kills 22 people, dozens hurt

A cargo truck full of Ethiopian asylum seekers and migrants flipped over on a highway killing at least 22 people and injuring 65 others.

Local authorities reported on Tuesday that the accident occurred in Semera, in the country’s northern Afar region, a few hundred kilometers west of neighboring Djibouti.

The Afar communications bureau posted a statement on Facebook claiming that “the accident occurred when a truck overturned, which had crowded in citizens who were misled by illegal brokers and didn’t understand the risk of the travel route.”

Since the accident, the regional government has been carrying out all necessary life-saving operations, and it is currently ensuring that the injured patients receive full medical care at Doubtee Referral Hospital. The government extends peace and strength to the deceased’s families, friends, and relatives.

Eastern route

The so-called Eastern Route travels through Ethiopia, one of the main departure points for asylum seekers and migrants from eastern African nations like Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti, primarily to find employment in Gulf countries.

Numerous a thousand African asylum seekers and migrants travel from Djibouti to Yemen on their way to work as domestic workers or as laborers.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 890 people died and vanished along the Eastern Route between January and September 2025.

The death toll for 2024 was doubled in the same time last year, according to the UN organization, calling it “the highest annual toll ever documented after 2022]882] and 2023]701]”.

According to the IOM, “tracked outgoing movements along the Eastern Route increased by 24 percent, from 283, 100 in 2024 to 351, 000 in 2025, primarily as a result of resumed data collection in Yemen and faster transit flows and shifting routes to evade controls in Djibouti and Somalia,” the IOM reported.

The route is still popular despite the high casualty counts. It is the “busiest and riskiest migration route in the world,” according to the IOM.