Migrants land on a beach in Lesbos, Greece, March 2020. (Credit: ARIS MESSINIS / AFP / Illustrative photo)
Five migrants drowned in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's southwest coast Saturday after setting out in a rubber dinghy, apparently bound for Greece, the Turkish coastguard said.
Eleven informal migrants — 10 adults, one child — were rescued, the coastguard said in a statement, "and the bodies of five were found."
The disaster took place in Turkish waters early Saturday off the town of Didim, off the coast of Aydin province, they said.
In a video released by the Turkish coastguard, migrants aboard a grey inflatable dinghy are seen waving as they are buffeted by rough seas.
Five surviving migrants managed to reach the Greek island of Farmakonisi, 10 kilometers (six miles) from the Turkish coast, the Greek coastguard said.
According to a witness account by the Greek coastguard, 31 people were aboard the boat when it departed.
Deaths in the Aegean are common, with migrants boarding makeshift boats even on stormy seas.
A woman and four children died in the same area at the beginning of February after their inflatable boat sank.
Since 2014, 2,269 people have drowned in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Eleven informal migrants — 10 adults, one child — were rescued, the coastguard said in a statement, "and the bodies of five were found."
The disaster...