Nearly 8,000 people died or disappeared on migration routes last year, with sea routes to Europe the most deadly and many victims lost in “invisible shipwrecks,” a UN agency said on Tuesday.

Axar.az informs, citing Reuters, though the 7,904 people dead or missing was down from an all-time high of 9,197 in 2024, the International Organization for Migration said that was partly due to 1,500 suspected cases that went unverified due to aid cuts.

“These figures bear witness to our collective failure to prevent these tragedies,” Maria Moita, who directs the IOM’s humanitarian and response department, told a Geneva press briefing.

More than four in every 10 fatalities and disappearances came on sea routes to Europe. Many cases were so-called “invisible shipwrecks” where entire boats are lost at sea and never found, the IOM said in a chilling new report.