Turkish and Northern Cypriot coast guards, along with commercial boats in the area, are carrying out a search and rescue operation, with at least 30 migrants missing from the sunken boat.
The Anadolu news agency reported that 101 migrants have been rescued.
#BREAKING Boat carrying migrants capsizes off northern Cyprus coast. 16 dead bodies recovered, 30 still missing. 101 rescued. Search for survivors ongoing near town of Yeni Erenköy / Yialusa off Karpasia peninsula #Refugees #Mediterranean pic.twitter.com/1n1cYMi59l
— Ertan Karpazli (@ErtanKarpasya) July 18, 2018
The European Union has been experiencing a large-scale migration crisis since 2015 due to the influx of thousands of migrants and refugees fleeing crises in their home countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the information provided by the International Migration Organization, nearly 41,000 migrant sea arrivals have been detected in Europe in the period from January 1 to June 20, with at least 960 attempts to reach the European continent by sea having resulted in deaths.
