Izmir: Turkish authorities announced that six migrants drowned while another 27 were rescued by the coastguard when their boat started sinking in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Turkiye.

According to Qatar News Agency, the incident took place south of the seaside resort of Izmir in the waters separating the Turkish coast from the Greek island of Samos. “The bodies of six lifeless illegal immigrants were fished out of the water,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X, adding that the coastguard had rescued 27 others, one of whom was detained on suspicion of smuggling.

Shipwrecks are common on the short but perilous route between the Turkish coast and the nearby Greek islands of Samos, Rhodes, and Lesbos, which serve as entry points to the European Union.