News / Turkey

19 refugees drown in Aegean off Turkey on way to Europe

Thursday, 24 December 2015 3:39 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 24 December 2015 3:38 PM ]

A Syrian refugee holds onto his children as he struggles to walk off a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey on September 24, 2015. ©Reuters

A total of 19 refugees, including six children, have lost their lives while trying to cross the Aegean Sea off the Turkish coast en route to Europe.

The Turkish coastguard said on Thursday that the refugees died when their boat capsized near Turkey’s western coastal town of Dikili, which lies directly across from the Greek island of Lesbos.

Rescue teams managed to save 21 people and were still looking for a missing refugee, the coastguard added.

The nationalities of the victims were not mentioned in reports.

Earlier on Thursday, at least eight refugees, among them six children, died and 14 others gone missing after enormous waves struck their overloaded vessel in the Aegean Sea, and tipped it over.

They were heading to the Greek island of Lesbos, when their wooden boat capsized off the shores of Bademli village in Turkey’s western province of Izmir.

Refugees make their way out of the sea, as their boat, on which they crossed a part of the Aegean Sea from Turkey, hit on rocks on the Greek island of Lesbos, on December 12, 2015. ©AP

Europe is facing an unprecedented influx of refugees who are fleeing conflict-ridden zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.

Officials in European countries are struggling to forge a united response to the record numbers of refugees.

Many blame major European powers for the unprecedented exodus, saying their policies have led to a surge in terrorism and war in those regions, forcing more people out of their homes.

According to the recent figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), more than one million refugees have reached Europe’s shores so far this year, while nearly 3,700 people have either died or gone missing in their perilous journey to the continent.

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