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Migrant boat sinks off Aegean coast, 4 dead

At least four people died Monday after a boat carrying illegal migrants sank in the Aegean Sea off Turkey's western coast, the Turkish coastguard said.

Published November 12,2018
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The Turkish coast guard on Monday recovered four bodies and was still searching for six missing migrants after their boat sank in the Aegean Sea, Turkey's state-run news agency reported.

Anadolu Agency said three other migrants were rescued as part of a search-and-rescue operation launched after the boat, with a total of 15 people on board, went down off the coast of Dikili, close to the Greek island of Lesbos. Earlier, two of the migrants managed to swim to shore to seek help.

The group was made up of 14 Afghans and one was an Iraqi citizen, the agency reported. Four of them were children.

Fishing boats were helping a coast guard helicopter and three coast guard boats in the search for the missing, Anadolu said.

Although their numbers have decreased in recent years, migrants still try to cross into Greece from nearby Turkey in the hopes of making their way to other European countries.