Five migrants who boarded an inflatable dinghy drowned on Saturday March 11 in the Aegean Sea off the coast of southwestern Turkey, the Turkish coast guard announced.
"
Eleven irregular migrants (10 adults, 1 child) were rescued (...) and the bodies of 5 irregular migrants were found
," the coast guard said in a statement.
The tragedy took place early Saturday off the town of Didim, in the waters surrounding the Turkish province of Aydin, they said.
In a video released by the Turkish coast guard, migrants aboard a gray dinghy wave their arms in the middle of rough seas.
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Raging and deadly sea in winter
Five migrants managed to reach the Greek island of Farmakonisi alive, located 10 km from the Turkish shore, the Greek coast guard said.
According to testimony collected by the Greek Coast Guard, 31 people were on board the boat when it left.
Human tragedies in the Aegean Sea are frequent, with migrants boarding makeshift boats on stormy, even raging seas in winter.
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A woman and four children notably died in early February in the same area following the sinking of their inflatable boat.
Since 2014, 2,269 people have drowned in the eastern Mediterranean, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).