Migrant boat sinks off Turkish Aegean coast, killing at least 22 people

Turkish officials say they have found the bodies of 22 people, including seven children, off Gokceada island.

At least 22 people, including several children, have died after the rubber dinghy they were travelling on capsized off the Turkish island of Gokceada in the Aegean Sea.

“The Turkish coastguard found the bodies of 22 people including seven children,” the local governor’s office said in a statement on Friday.

Information on the victims’ nationalities has not yet been released.

Governor Ilhami Aktas told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the Turkish coastguard rescued two people from the sea off the town of Eceabat in Canakkale province, while two others were able to reach the shore by themselves,

Turkish officials said the boat began sinking overnight and that many ambulances were standing by at the port of Kabatepe near Gokceada. The search-and-rescue operation was also backed by one plane, two helicopters, one drone, 18 boats and 502 personnel.