Eighteen migrants traveling aboard an inflatable boat drowned on Wednesday in the Aegean Sea off Bodrum, in southwestern Turkey, according to Turkish coast guards.
“Following search and rescue operations, 21 irregular migrants were rescued alive, while the bodies of 18 others were recovered,” the coast guard said in a statement.
The coast guard, which said it spotted the group at sea around 06:00 (03:00 GMT), added that “the inflatable boat refused to stop and continued fleeing at high speed” before taking on water and sinking.
