Death toll rises to 39 in refugee boat tragedy off Turkey's Aegean coast
Xinhua, January 30, 2016 Adjust font size:
At least 39 refugees, including children, drowned as their boat capsized off Turkey's Aegean coast early Saturday, Turkish media reported.
Initially 10 people reportedly died, among them five children, and 43 others were rescued when the 17-meter-long boat overturned off Bademli coast in western Turkey soon after departing from Turkey's Canakkale province for the Greek island of Lesbos.
Latest reports said the boat was carrying more than 100 refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar, and the Turkish coast guard rescued 62 people from the sea.
A Turkish man was detained for organizing the trip and the investigation is still ongoing, the Hurriyet daily said.
Over 80,000 refugees were saved off Turkish coasts in 2015 alone, while more than 3,000 died on their way to Greek islands via Turkey, the Turkish coast guard said.
On Thursday, 24 people, among them 10 children, died off Greece's Samos island as a boat carrying migrants from Turkey to Greece capsized.
The European Union has urged both Turkey and Greece to take steps to stem the inflow of refugees into the continent. Endit