6 migrant children drown just off Turkey

Published 10:00 am Tuesday, December 8, 2015

ANKARA, Turkey — Six Afghan children drowned after a rubber dinghy carrying migrants to Greece sank off Turkey’s Aegean coast on Tuesday, the state-run news agency reported.

Five other migrants, including a 12-year-old boy, were rescued from the sea off the resort of Cesme, and were found floating in lifejackets, Anadolu Agency said. Rescuers were searching for two other migrants who were reported missing.

The Turkish coast guard recovered the bodies of the six children. Anadolu didn’t report their ages, but said one of them was a baby.

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The migrants were apparently hoping to make it to the island of Chios from the resort of Cesme despite bad weather. The boat sank after wooden reinforcements used to fortify the boat came apart in the sea, causing the boat to take in water and sink, Anadolu said.

More than 700,000 migrants have crossed into Greece this year, many fleeing conflict in Syria or Iraq. Nearly all have entered the country from Turkey, paying large fees to smuggling gangs who arrange their crossings in small, overcrowded boats. Hundreds of people have drowned this year in the Aegean Sea, including dozens of children.