Turkish Coast Guard finds bodies of 5 migrants after shipwreck, nearly a dozen missing: officials
Turkish Coast Guard Officials say the bodies of five migrants have been found whose boat carrying 31 passengers was shipwrecked on Saturday morning off the coast of Turkey.
Turkish authorities have rescued 11 more people from a partially submerged boat, while the Greek Coast Guard has successfully located five migrants on the island of Pharmakonisi in the Aegean Sea. United Nations Refugee Agency said.
The Turkish Coast Guard responded to the area after learning that the vessel was taking on water shortly before 6:30 am local time, Reuters reported. Authorities said a child was among 11 people rescued from a “half-sunk boat” in Turkish waters.
Those rescued told authorities that there were 31 passengers on the boat.
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The search for the remaining passengers continued on Sunday as rescuers battled severe weather.
The Greek Coast Guard said Turkish authorities found five bodies in the Aegean Sea and rescued 11 more people aboard the partially submerged vessel. The Greek authorities rescued five migrants on a neighboring island, the rest of the passengers were missing. (Greek Coast Guard)
Pharmakonisi is located about 12 miles off the coast of Didim, a small coastal town in southwestern Turkey.
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last shipwreck of migrants occurred two weeks after a wooden boat sailing from Turkey stumbled upon a sandbank in rough seas off a beach in Calabria, on the headland of the Italian peninsula. At least 79 migrants died, 80 more survived, and an undetermined number went missing and presumed dead.
Police check a fishing boat carrying about 500 migrants in the southern Italian port of Crotone early Saturday morning. The Italian Coast Guard responded to three smuggler boats carrying more than 1,300 “at risk” migrants off Italy’s southern coast. (AP Photo/Valeria Ferraro)
Meanwhile, more 1300 migrants Since Friday, they have been rescued in three separate missions in the Mediterranean off the southern tip of Italy, Italian officials said.