Over 30 irregular migrants rescued from capsized boat off Aegean coast of Turkey as another 8 drowned
According to the latest information released by Turkey's state-run news agency, a boat carrying irregular migrants capsized on Monday off the southwestern Aegean coast of Turkey, and at least 31 people have been rescued as other 8 migrants got drowned.
- World
- Anadolu Agency
- Published Date: 12:36 | 17 June 2019
- Modified Date: 01:51 | 17 June 2019
Some eight irregular migrants were killed as a boat capsized off the southwestern Aegean coast of Turkey on Monday.
According to an Anadolu Agency correspondent at the site, at least 31 migrants were rescued in search and rescue operations.
The operations for the missing are underway.
According to data compiled by Anadolu Agency in May, 2019, at least 50 irregular migrants lost their lives on their way to Europe through Turkey this year.
Most of the deaths took place in the Turkish-Iranian border, where 32 migrants froze to death while trying to cross to Van province in eastern Turkey from Iran.
In four separate incidents at the Aegean Sea, a total of 16 irregular migrants drowned while trying to cross to Greek islands.
Turkey has been the main route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the civil war in Syria.
Some 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Interior Ministry.
The migrants were mostly Afghan, Pakistani, Syrian and Iraqi nationals.
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