Dead toddler identified as missing Syrian child

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

AA Photo

A dead toddler whose body was recovered off the shore of Istanbul’s European neighborhood of Ortaköy has been identified as a Syrian child who was reported missing on Dec. 16.

Istanbul Homicide Bureau launched an investigation on Dec. 29 in order to identify the dead child who was believed to be 3 or 4 years of age. 

Research revealed the toddler was 4-year-old Metin Faisal, whose family fled to Turkey to escape the war in Syria. 

The boy’s parents were located by police and brought to the security branch office where his mother, Shirin Faisal, identified him by his clothes. 

According to reports, Metin’s parents went to the police on Dec. 16 after the toddler went missing in the Küçükpazar Street of the touristic Eminönü district of Istanbul’s historical peninsula.  

Officials said the investigation was continuing to determine the child’s cause of death. 

The child’s body was recovered on Dec. 29 after citizens noticed it drifting along the water by Ortaköy mosque. Beşiktaş district police officers, in cooperation with maritime police, retrieved his body from the Bosphorus.