At least thirteen migrants drowned, including six children, on Sunday while they were trying to reach the Greek Island of Lesbos from Turkey in an inflatable boat, AFP reports.
The dinghy went down after it crashed with a Turkish ferry in the vicinity of the port of Canakkale.
Turkish Coast Guard said that eight people were rescued from the dinghy that was carrying around 46 people before it collided with the ferry and sank. The coast guard sent a helicopter and several rescue boats to the site to help pluck the people from the water.
According to the release from the coast guard, the rescued sustained serious injuries, whereas the bodies recovered from the water included a baby.
Search and rescue operations for the missing were underway.
“It was dark, we saw the ship bearing down on us. We tried to signal with flashlights and cell phones but they did not see us, ” a survivor identified as Haseen, told AFP news agency.
“We lost the children. We could not see them in the dark,” he said.
Separately, the Greek Coast Guard reported of an accident on the same day, suspected to be the same accident, involving sinking of a vessel crammed with people trying to reach Greece. As informed, 22 people have been saved and taken to the port of Mytilene, whereas around 26 people are still reported to be missing.
A corpse of an unidentified woman and an under-aged girl were recovered from the water among the victims.
The latest tragedy comes as thousands of migrants resort to dangerous sea crossings in desperate attempts of reaching Europe, particularly Germany and Scandinavian countries.
World Maritime News Staff; Image: Turkish Coast Guard