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4 refugees drowned off Turkey's Aegean Sea coast

Xinhua, December 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

Four migrants drowned and nine remain missing after their boat capsized off Turkey's Aegean Sea coast on Thursday, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

The boat smuggling Iraqi migrants from Turkey's Aegean Aydin province to Greece capsized near Bulamac Island early Thursday, according to the report.

Turkish and Greek coast guards launched rescue operations in the region and retrieved the bodies of four refugees.

The Turkish Coast Guard also rescued two refugees, as five others managed to swim to the Turkish mainland.

With its strategic location between Europe and the Middle East, as well as a long border with war-torn Syria and Iraq, Turkey has become a transit point for refugees seeking to cross into the European Union.

In 2014, Turkey's Coast Guard and local institutions rescued some nearly 15,000 migrants, according to official Turkish statistics.

About 400,000 refugees have illegally entered Greece via Turkey in 2015, but more than 3,000 of them, mostly Syrians, have lost their lives in boat accidents across the Aegean. Endit