Accessibility links

Breaking News

12 Migrants Drown Off Turkish Coast


Turkish coast guard officers arrive with bodies of migrants that were drowned as they were trying to reach Greece, at a port near Izmir, Turkey, Jan. 21, 2016.
Turkish coast guard officers arrive with bodies of migrants that were drowned as they were trying to reach Greece, at a port near Izmir, Turkey, Jan. 21, 2016.

Twelve migrants lost their lives off the Turkish coast, after a boat taking them to the Greek islands capsized Thursday in severe weather.

Turkey's coast guard says 26 other migrants were rescued off the Turkish Aegean resort of Foca, near Izmir.

The Turkish Dogan News Agency reported the coast guard found the bodies of at least five children. News agency video showed the bodies of victims lined up in bags on the sea front.

Security forces detained two alleged human smugglers, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Th coast guard says about 40 migrants have died this year off Turkey's coast while trying to cross into Greece.

According to International Organization for Migration estimates, since January 1 more than 31,000 people crossed the Mediterranean to Greece, about 21 times as many as recorded by the Greek Coast Guard for all of January 2015.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG