By Hakan Mehmet Sahin
EDIRNE, Turkey (AA): At least five people were killed when an inflatable boat carrying irregular migrants sank off Turkey’s northwestern Edirne province, security sources said on Sunday.
The boat capsized off the coastal Sultanice town of Enez district, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
The Coast Guard reached five bodies in the sea.
Later, five others, of whom two are migrant smugglers, swam to shore, the sources said.
There were 12 people aboard and two people are still missing.
Search and rescue operations to find the missing people were halted owing to bad weather conditions.
Turkey has been a major route for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
[Archive Photo: Dead bodies of drowned children in Diven Halil Huseyin, Beren Halil Huseyin boat sunk at Mugla shores on 26 November, 2015. Photographer: Ali Balli/AA]
