Turkish Coast Guard saves 47 migrants on drifting boat

CANAKKALE / HATAY, Turkey

Nearly 50 irregular migrants, adrift at sea and near drowning, were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard on Thursday.

The Afghan-origin migrants were in the sea off Gokceada in Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, headed to Greece, when their rubber boat lost power.

Then the boat started taking on water, putting the 47 migrants -- including nine women and 23 children -- at serious risk of drowning.

Fortunately, they were able to reach a Turkish Coast Guard hotline, which led to their rescue.

The migrants were later taken to provincial migration directorates.

Separately, a group of 47 Syrian migrants who illegally crossed to Turkey were held by security forces in rural Altinozu in the southern Hatay province.

The migrants were later taken to the local gendarmerie office.

Turkey has been a main route for irregular migrants trying to cross to Europe, especially since 2011, when the Syrian civil war began.

Some 265,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Interior Ministry.

Writing by Jeyhun Aliyev