Forty-five refugees killed, 111 missing in waters off Djibouti... "shoot them out of the boat."

At least 45 people have drowned and 111 are missing in an incident that forced migrants back to Africa off-board, the International Organization for Migration, the IOM, says.

According to the IOM, a large number of people jumped into the sea from two ships carrying more than 300 migrants in waters near Obok, a village in Djibouti, East Africa.

The IOM explained that the alleged smugglers forced migrants to jump off the boat.

As a result, 45 people who jumped into the sea were killed, 111 were missing, and 154 people, including migrants who did not get off the ship, were rescued.

While details of the incident have yet to be revealed, the migrants on board appear to have crossed into Yemen from the northeastern part of the continent, including Somalia and Ethiopia, before returning, the IOM said.

Djibouti is considered a route for African migrants seeking jobs in the Middle East to cross the Red Sea with smugglers.

Migrants crossing the sea on boats run by illegal immigration brokers face various forms of violence, exploitation and abuse, the IOM noted, and their personal safety is difficult to be guaranteed.