One of 15 missing in Bodrum boat capsizing found dead

BODRUM – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

One of the 15 migrants reported missing after a boat capsized off the Aegean resort town of Bodrum has been found dead.

A woman around 30 years old, who was among 15 migrants reported missing after a migrant boat capsized off Bodrum, a district in the Aegean Muğla province, was found dead on Nov. 19.

Initial reports said ten migrants went missing after the incident, but the number of missing migrants rose to 15 later during the day of the capsizing.

The Turkish Coast Guard began both marine and aerial searches to locate the missing migrants after rescuing five others thanks to a tip off from fishermen who saw a group of migrants off Turgutreis, a neighboring district, at around 6:30 a.m. on Nov. 18. 

Meanwhile, Turkey has stepped up efforts to enforce stricter border patrols near its northwestern borders to prevent illegal migrant crossings into European countries.

Fourteen human traffickers were detained on Nov. 17 in two separate police operations in the northwestern provinces bordering Greece, both on land and sea. 

Some 27 inflatable boats, 24 boat engines, a 7.65-milimeter pistol with 25 shells, three hunting rifles, 12 vehicles, two life boats and 22 mobile phones were seized in raids by the Gendarmerie.

Geographically located between war-torn Syria and Iraq in the southeast and the European Union member states of Bulgaria and Greece in the northwest, Turkey has become a transition point for foreign migrants looking to illegally cross into the EU in an endeavor to flee the violence in Iraq and Syria and find a higher standard of living.

The wave of migration across the Aegean Sea, however, has often resulted in injuries and even deaths due to either the capsizing of migrant-carrying boats or abuse of migrants by human traffickers.