Seven migrants drown off Turkiye’s western coast

ISTANBUL: Seven migrants drowned in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Turkiye after falling overboard when the authorities tried to intercept their boat, the Turkish coastguard said on Friday. 

They were part of a group of around 40 people who set sail on an inflatable boat on Thursday evening from near the Turkish seaside resort of Kusadasi, about 100-kms south of Izmir.

Kusadasi lies opposite the Greek island of Samos, which is about 15-kms across the water.

But when the coastguard tried to intercept their boat, seven of the passengers fell into the water, with three bodies found shortly after.

Four more were found on Friday, it said in a statement.

Another 18 adults and 13 minors were rescued unharmed.

Shipwrecks are very common on the short but perilous route between the Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands of Samos, Rhodes and Lesbos that provide entry points to the European Union.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 2,333 migrants disappeared or died in the Mediterranean last year.