9 dead after refugee boat sinks off Turkey: coastguard

Nine people died and one person was missing after a speedboat carrying 15 refugees sank off the coast of Turkey’s southern province of Antalya on Sunday, Turkish coastguard said.

It also said, five people were rescued by the Turkish coastguard and fishermen.

Europe has faced a migrant crisis since 2015 following wars in Libya and Syria, with more than 1 million people from Africa and the Middle East attempting to reach the continent via Turkey or by sea.

Since then, the main eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Greece has been largely shut by a deal between the European Union and Ankara.

According to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project, over 2000 migrants deaths were reported in the Mediterranean between January and August 2017.

Reuters