Rescuers pulled 24 bodies from the sea at the mouth of Istanbul’s Bosphorus strait on Monday and rescued seven people after the sinking of a boat carrying migrants including children, the Turkish Coastguard Command said, Reuters reports.
Tens of thousands of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and beyond pack into often unsafe boats each year and thousands of them drown in their efforts to enter the European Union through coastal states.
The boat, which capsized, was loaded with 42 Afghan illegal migrants, including 12 children and seven women, along with a Turkish captain. It was believed to have been heading for Bulgaria or Romania, but it was unclear where it set to sea.
