Migrants' boat capsizes off Turkish coast, 22 drown

Separately, 11 migrants died and three were rescued when another boat sank further south off the coast

ISTANBUL: Twenty-two migrants drowned when the boat carrying them capsized off Turkey's Aegean coast in the Edremit area of Balikesir province on Monday as they tried to reach a Greek island, a Turkish coast guard official told Reuters.

Separately, the private Dogan news agency said 11 migrants died and three were rescued when another boat sank further south off the coast of Dikili in the province of Izmir.

Earlier on February 2, nine people, including two babies, were found drowned off the coast of western Turkey on Tuesday after a boat carrying people to Greece partly capsized.



A crackdown on illegal crossing and the dangerous winter conditions have failed to deter tens of thousands from boarding flimsy boats and attempting to cross the Mediterranean in the first few weeks of the year.

More than 360 people died in the Mediterranean in January including more than 100 over the final weekend, according to International Organisation for Migration.