Seven people were rescued and nine more were missing from the stricken boat, which had set off earlier from Istanbul and had travelled through the Bosphorus Strait on its way to Romania, the reports added on Monday.
"Not everyone has been accounted for yet," Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith said, reporting from Istanbul. "This is an ongoing rescuing operation," adding that helicopters and coast guards are looking for any survivors.
Those on board were Afghans who had paid several thousand euros each in search of a better life in the EU and had set off earlier from Bakirkoy, an Istanbul suburb on the Sea of Marmara side of the Bosphorus.
Twelve children and seven women were reported to have been on board, the reports added, quoting a statement from the coastguard.
"The boat could have capsized either because it was overloaded or because the weather being too windy," Al Jazeera's Smith said. "Fishermen who have first went to the rescue said it was a small pleasure boat designed to carry perhaps seven to nine people on tours of the water around Istanbul. We know so far that more than 20 people have drowned and 6 have survived. Clearly the boat ha been overloaded."
A coastguard official contacted by AFP confirmed the accident but could not give the exact number of victims. The boat capsized due to overloading and bad weather conditions.
Turkey has become a hub for illegal immigrants who seek to reach Europe in the search for a better life.
But the journey is frequently perilous, and hundreds of immigrants have drowned en route to Europe in recent years.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
3/11/14
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Death toll in migrant boat disaster off northern Istanbul coast climbs to 24 ...
ReplyDeleteAt least 24 migrants have died while many are missing after a boat carrying refugees capsized off Istanbul’s northern coast in the early hours of Nov. 3.
Seven people have been rescued by fishermen and Turkish coast guards dispatched to the area while 24 bodies have been pulled from the sea near the site of the incident, Turkish Coast Guard officials said. Most of the migrants who died were children, a rescue official said. The boat was carrying 30-40 people, according to reports.
The accident took place near Rumeli Feneri, a small village at the confluence of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea....................http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/death-toll-in-migrant-boat-disaster-off-northern-istanbul-coast-climbs-to-24.aspx?pageID=238&nID=73792&NewsCatID=341
3/11/14