Four migrants die after boat sinks in the Aegean near Turkey’s Bodrum coast

MUĞLA – Anadolu Agency

Coastguards carry the bodies of the dead Syrian migrants, as those who were saved were transferred to a hospital in Bodrum, March 18. AA photo

Four migrants have died after a boat sank off the shores of Bodrum in the Aegean Sea on March 18, trying to reach the Greek island of Kos.

Three migrants were rescued by the Turkish Coastguard while the search for one more traveling on the boat are ongoing.

All migrants were of Syrian origin, Doğan News Agency reported.

Fisherman saw the boat sinking around 1.5 miles off Bodrum’s coast and immediately informed the Coast Guard.  

The incident came only hours after seven migrants who were trying to reach the Greek island of Lesvos died in a similar sailing tragedy further north off the Turkish coast.

The total number of migrants risking their life with dangerous journeys in the sea has increased recently, partly due to the growing numbers of Syrian refugees entering Turkey.

Twelve immigrants, mostly Afghans, drowned when a boat capsized near the eastern Greek island of Farmakonisi in January, in one of the most tragic such incidents in the Aegean.