At least 13 migrants, including children, have died after their dinghy collided with a ferry, and another sank in choppy waters, as desperate people fleeing the war torn Syria, braving the risky journey to seek sanctuary in Europe.
The accident happened close to the port of Canakkale. The boat was on its way to the Greek island of Lesbos.
According to reports, four children were among the victims of the accident involving a boat carrying 46 migrants.
Turkey’s coastguard said it had raised the alarm after being told that a commercial vessel and a migrant boat had collided off Canakkale.
It said it had sent a helicopter and six rescue boats to the area. And about Twenty people were rescued and 13 people were still missing, the report added.
The sinking was the second Sunday in the Aegean Sea, with the Greek coastguard reporting another two dozen feared missing from a boat that got into trouble close to Lesbos.
A five-year-old Syrian girl died on Saturday while crossing from Turkey to Greece, a perilous journey that has claimed hundreds of migrant lives this year.
Such incidents highlight the risks that those fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia are willing to take in hopes of reaching sanctuary in Europe. Men, women and children continue to take the perilous sea journey despite the fact that thousands of earlier refugees find themselves blocked by closed border crossings in the Balkans.