At least 12 people have drowned after a boat carrying refugees attempting to reach the Greek island of Lesvos sank in the Aegean Sea, Turkish officials said on Saturday.
Canakkale Governor, Hamza Erkal said the boat carrying more than 48 refugees — most of them reportedly from Syria and Afghanistan — sank in the Turkish waters of the Aegean Sea as the boat was on its way to Greece, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Security officials identified the dead bodies, which include one infant, four children, five women and two men.
The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 25 refugees from the wooden boat, which had set off from the Turkish resort town of Ayvacik, located in the northwestern Canakkale province.
The Coast Guard crews have been searching for at least 11 other missing refugees, Erkal said.
In a separate incident, a Pakistani refugee reportedly drowned, on Saturday, after falling off a boat carrying 38 people, Turkish Coast Guard officials said.
The boat had departed from the coast of Bodrum located in the southwestern province of Mugla and was heading towards the nearby Greek island of Kos.
(source: Anatolia news agency)
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