- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/TURKEY-BOAT SINKS Migrant dies as refugee boat sinks off Bodrum
- Date: 21st August 2015
- Summary: BODRUM, TURKEY (AUGUST 21, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ++NIGHT SHOTS++ VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS AND LOCAL PEOPLE ON BEACH DAMAGED BOAT LOCAL PEOPLE ON BEACH RESCUED BOY WEARING LIFE JACKET SCATTERED BELONGINGS VARIOUS OF RESCUED CHILDREN ON BEACH LIFE JACKETS ON THE GROUND BOY WEARING LIFE JACKET RESCUED MIGRANTS ON BOAT SAILING TO BEACH (SOUNDBIT
- Embargoed: 5th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Turkey
- Country: Turkey
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAERZKMP9WBY2RDFHMJNVOM55XD
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: One Syrian migrant drowned and another is missing after a boat carrying 12 Syrians to the Greek Island of Kos sank off coast Turkey's holiday resort of Bodrum on Friday (August 21).
Ten migrants survived after some swam to the beach and others were rescued by local people and coastguards, Haberturk TV reported.
A Bodrum resident said similar accidents happen almost every day as the numbers of migrants on board boats exceeds their capacity.
"Seven to 15 people embark on a boat that can carry three to four people. Recently, I saw 20 people on a dinghy and this is what happens," he added.
The route from Turkey has become the main gateway to Europe, according to Frontex, the EU border-management agency. A record 49,550 migrants reached the EU via Greece in July, more than in all of 2014, it says.
The relatively calm waters of the Aegean Sea and its islands offer a safer passage than the route from north Africa to Italy, where most of the 2,000-plus migrants who have drowned so far in 2015 have died.
Turkey's position as a bridge from Asia to Europe, as well as its wealth compared with neighbouring states, has long made it both a destination and a transit point for migrants from the Middle East and as far afield as Africa and South Asia.
Tens of thousands of migrants cross Greece's sea and land borders every year, the vast majority via Turkey. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None