Migrant boat sinks off Turkey, children among 22 dead

At least 22 people have drowned, including seven children, when a rubber boat carrying migrants sank off Turkey’s northwest province of Canakkale, the local governor’s office says, adding that search and rescue efforts continued.

In a statement, the Canakkale governor’s office says that two people had been rescued by the coast guard and two others had survived “by their own means” after the boat capsized.

It says 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 to port 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.

Earlier, Canakkale Governor Ilhami Aktas told the state-run Anadolu news agency that the four rescued migrants were admitted to hospital.

It is not immediately clear how many migrants were on the boat, the governor told Anadolu.