Search underway after migrant boat sinks off Turkish coast
Eight migrants are still missing after their boat bound for Italy sunk southwest of the Turkish town of Kas.
Search-and-rescue operations are underway in the Aegean Sea after a boat carrying 45 migrants sank off the southern coast of Turkey, Greek and Turkish officials said Friday.
The state-run Anadolu Agency quoted the Turkish Defense Ministry as saying two frigates and maritime patrol aircraft had joined the search efforts for eight missing passengers from the boat that sank at 9:10 p.m. local time Thursday.
According to Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, the boat was bound for Italy when it ran out of fuel amid severe weather conditions some 161 miles (260 kilometers) southwest of the Turkish seaside town of Kas.
Greek port police told Agence France-Presse that 37 people, mostly from Iraq and Syria, were rescued near the Greek island of Crete. Of that group, five were reportedly taken by helicopter to the Greek island of Karpathos and 30 others were transported to a town in southeast Crete.
