Three children, woman die after boat capsizes off Turkey's Aegean coast

Four migrants, including three children, have died after three dinghies that were mostly bringing Afghan migrants to Greece capsized off the Aegean coastal province of Çanakkale on Oct. 31. 

Three plastic boats, which were carrying around 140 people, capsized in the Aegean Sea due to bad weather and sea conditions after setting sail from Sivrice bay in the province's Ayvac?k district at around 5 p.m. on Oct. 31, heading for Greece's Lesbos Island. 

A passing dry cargo vessel noticed the migrants floating in the sea and brought around 130 aboard while also informing the Turkish Coast Guard. 

The Coast Guard rescued seven migrants with a helicopter, bringing them to Edremit State Hospital for treatment. Two children out of the seven migrants succumbed to their injuries in hospital, while officials found the bodies of a woman and a child at sea. 

Because of a storm in the Aegean, the vessel could not immediately bring the 130 migrants to a port.

Depot for nonstandard dinghies raided in ?zmir

Meanwhile, police raided a depot on Oct. 30 in the western province of ?zmir in which non-standard zodiac boats were being produced for migrants to use for their voyage to Greece. 

Coast Guard officers had been spotting non-standard boats during their migrant rescue efforts on the Aegean Sea but could not determine the source until the raid in ?zmir.

Police have detained a total of 19 people - seven Turks and 12 Syrians, for alleged involvement in human smuggling activities during the raid.

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