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13 Migrants Drown Off Turkish Coast

Publisher: The New York Times
Author: By SEWELL CHAN
Story date: 23/12/2015
Language: English

LONDON — Thirteen migrants, including seven children, have drowned after their boat capsized off the tiny Greek island of Farmakonisi, less than 10 miles off the coast of Turkey.

The boat, nearly 20 feet long, was carrying 29 migrants when it sank Tuesday night, according to Kelly Namia, a spokeswoman in Athens for the International Organization for Migration.

The Greek Coast Guard rescued 13 men and two women, but the seven children, along with four men and two women, drowned. One person was still missing, and the Coast Guard was continuing its search operations.

Farmakonisi, only 1.5 square miles, is part of the Dodecanese islands, in the Aegean Sea. Didim, a seaside resort in southwestern Turkey, is about 12 miles away.

The International Organization for Migration reported on Tuesday that the number of unauthorized migrants crossing into Europe by sea and land this year had surpassed one million, more than four times the previous record, set in 2014, and the largest displacement of people on the Continent since World War II.

More than 3,700 people have died trying to reach Europe this year.
 

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