At least nine dead after migrant boat sinks in Aegean

ÇANAKKALE

At least nine people are dead and 25 others have been rescued after a boat carrying irregular migrants sank off Türkiye's Aegean coast early on April 3, local authorities said.

The incident occurred near the northwestern city of Çanakkale's Ayvacık district. The Coast Guard’s Aegean teams responded to a distress call and found a rubber boat that had capsized.

Upon arrival, rescuers pulled 25 people from the water and brought them to safety.

Initial reports said five bodies were recovered from the wreck. The survivors were transferred to hospitals in Çanakkale and nearby Balıkesir.

Later in the day, Coast Guard teams discovered the bodies of four more migrants aboard the boat. Search efforts for one remaining missing individual were ongoing.

The governor's office confirmed that three Coast Guard boats, a helicopter and a diving team consisting of 82 personnel assisted in the effort to locate the final missing migrant.

Türkiye has been a main route for undocumented migrants trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011, when Syria’s civil war began.