A life raft carrying migrants collided with rocks off Turkey’s Aegean coast near Cesme Tuesday, resulting in the loss of seven lives, Turkish authorities said.
According to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya, Turkey’s coast guard responded to an urgent distress call from a fishing boat in the area at 10:47 a.m. local time. The rescue operation saved 19 people. One person remains missing.
The survivors said Greek authorities left them to drift near Turkish territorial waters before their raft struck the rocks and ultimately sank.
SEE ALSO: BBC: Greek coast guard responsible for more than 40 migrant deathsThis accusation is part of Turkey’s ongoing assertion that Greece conducts “pushbacks,” in which migrants are deported without undergoing asylum procedures as called for by international law. Greece denies returning newly arrived migrants to Turkey. The two countries have accused each other of mistreating migrants.
Migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East view Greece as a gateway to Europe and a better life in European Union nations.
The incident highlights the risks migrants face in their quest to reach the EU, often resorting to perilous journeys aboard boats supplied by traffickers. These journeys emphasize the humanitarian challenges surrounding migration routes in the Mediterranean.
Turkish authorities have deployed one helicopter, four coast guard vessels and a team of divers to search for the missing person.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.