Nine refugees drown off Turkish coast
Turkish coast guard authorities have made countless rescues at Antalya, including this 2016 incident. Photo: Getty
Six children are among nine refugees who have drowned off Turkey’s southern coast.
A Turkish coastguard statement said the refugees’ speedboat sank early on Sunday off the island of Kekova Geyikova in Antalya province.
Four of the refugees – three men and a woman – were rescued by the coastguard, while one man was rescued by a fishing boat.
One person is said to be missing. There was no information on the nationalities of the refugees.
Antalya is located on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast.
While the European Union has increased efforts to stem migration to the bloc after more than a million people arrived in 2015, it has said that arrivals have risen in recent months along migration routes from Turkey in particular.
