A 2-month-old baby and a child died Monday after a boat carrying 35 irregular migrants sunk off the coast of Ayvalık district in Turkey's Balıkesir province.
Turkish coast guard rescued 33 irregular migrants. The child died during the accident and a search was initiated for the infant, whose body was later found.
The migrants were illegally attempting to cross to Europe over the Aegean Sea.
Turkey has been a key transit point for irregular migrants aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution.
The illegal migration trend gained momentum with the unrest in the Middle East, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
Some 268,000 irregular migrants were held in Turkey in 2018, according to the Interior Ministry.
