22 dead after migrant boat sinks off Turkiye coast

At least 22 people drowned, including seven children, when a rubber boat carrying migrants sank off Turkiye’s northwest province of Canakkale on Friday, the local governor’s office said, adding that search and rescue efforts continued, Reuters reports.

The Canakkale governor’s office said that two people had been rescued by the coast guard and two others had survived “by their own means” after the boat capsized.

It said a plane, two helicopters, and a total of 18 vessels from the coast guard and other rescue authorities were involved in the search and rescue efforts, along with 502 personnel.

Footage from Kabatepe port showed a boat taking part in search and rescue operations returning with body bags on the deck. Health workers and security personnel could be seen carrying the body bags off the boat and onto ambulances waiting there.

Read: 60 migrants feared drowned crossing Mediterranean from Libya