At least 22 people have died after a boat carrying refugees sank early Tuesday in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's southwestern Mugla coast.
Mugla Governor Amir Cicek told Anadolu Agency that the incident occurred off the Turkish island of Karaada in Bodrum Bay as a 15-meter day-trip vessel with refugees on board was sailing from the Bodrum coast to the nearby Greek island of Kos.
Cicek added that more than 200 people had been rescued by Turkish Coast Guard teams.
Those rescued were taken onboard coast guard ships while a diving team from Bodrum Marine Rescue Association reportedly headed to the area to help the search efforts.
The coastal tourist destination of Bodrum is a preferred location for refugees trying to reach Kos, as the route is considered among the shortest by sea from Asia to EU territory.
In the first five months of 2015, over 42,000 people arrived by sea to Greece, most of them refugees, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
However, the UNHCR also says more than 300,000 people have risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, with around 2,500 refugees and migrants have died or gone missing trying to reach Europe.
On Sept. 2, 12 Syrian refugees, including eight children, drowned after their boat sank en route to the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea. Their bodies had washed up on the shores of Bodrum.
The picture of the dead body of a drowned Syrian child, Aylan Kurdi, went viral on social media causing worldwide outrage.
Sunday morning saw at least 34 people drowned after a boat illegally carrying at least 100 refugees to the Greek islands capsized in the Aegean Sea state-owned Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA) reported.
This story has been edited from the source material.
