Eighteen migrants who set off in a rubber dinghy drowned in the Aegean Sea off Bodrum in southwestern Turkey on Wednesday, according to the Turkish coastguard.
“Following search and rescue operations, 21 undocumented migrants were rescued alive, while the bodies of 18 others were recovered,” the coastguard said in a statement.
There was no immediate information about the nationality of the migrants.
“Efforts to determine the status of the missing (migrants) and search and rescue operations are continuing in this case,” the coastguard said.
Shipwrecks are common among vessels attempting the perilous crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands, which are a gateway to the European Union.
