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2 Dead After Migrant Boat Sinks Off Turkey's Coast


A Turkish paramilitary officer and local workers collect the bodies of migrants after coast guard officials said 13 migrants died after their boat collided with a ferry off the Turkish coast near Ayvacik, Canakkale, Turkey, Sept. 20, 2015.
A Turkish paramilitary officer and local workers collect the bodies of migrants after coast guard officials said 13 migrants died after their boat collided with a ferry off the Turkish coast near Ayvacik, Canakkale, Turkey, Sept. 20, 2015.

Turkey's coast guard says two people died Monday after a boat carrying migrants sank just 50 meters off Turkey's western coast near Bodrum.

Seventeen people were rescued from the boat, according to the coast guard.

Three people were able to swim ashore, but two of them died later at a hospital, a coast guard statement said.

The coast guard said it is continuing search and rescue efforts for possible survivors.

There were no immediate details about the nationalities of the migrants.

Turkey is one of the transit countries used by migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa in their quest to seek a better life in Europe.

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