MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper, the shipwreck took place near the town of Ayvacik on Turkey's western coast. The coast guard managed to rescue 43 people, who were hospitalized.
Mostly Syrian, Afghan, and Burmese refugees were on board the vessel.
Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty. Many of them take the West Balkan route, which crosses Greece, using the county as an entry-point to the bloc.
The International Organization for Migration, recorded more than 52,000 migrant and refugee arrivals to Greece by sea in 2016, over 35 times more than in January 2015.
