Twenty-Four Dead as Migrant Boat Capsizes Off Turkey

A Turkish Coastal Safety boat pulls the wreck of a capsized boat (R) after a boating accident off Rumeli Feneri, in the Black Sea coast of Istanbul, Turkey, 03 November 2014. Photo by EPA/BGNES

A boat reportedly carrying migrants has sunken while crossing the Bosphorus leaving 24 people dead and an unknown number missing, authorities say.

The incident happened off Istanbul's northern coast where the strait meets the Black Sea early on November 3, according to Turkish media outlets.

Seven people were successfully rescued by fishermen and coast guards briefly after the boat sank.

Turkish Coast Guard officials say most of those who lost their lives were children.

In the words of a rescuer "the boat is a very small one... but hey were carrying 40 people in it."

It is not clear where the migrants are from, but locals cited by Hürriyet Daily News say some of them are believed to be Syrian. One hypothesis is that they were going to Romania and were mostly Afghans and Turkmens. Reports of CNN Türk suggest the boat carried Afghans and Syrians.   

A fisherman who saw the incident with his own eyes says "there were bodies of babies floating in the water".

The reasons for the incident are yet to be established.

Continue reading on: