MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the earlier reports, 10 people died as a boat sank on its way to the Greek Lesbos island.
The Turkish coast guard rescued 75 people, the Anadolu news agency said. The shipwreck took place near Turkey's western town of Ayvacik. Mostly Syrian, Afghan, and Burmese refugees were on board the vessel.
Europe has been beset by a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants fleeing their home countries to escape violence and poverty. Many of them take the West Balkan route, which crosses Greece, using the county as an entry-point to the bloc.
The International Organization for Migration, recorded more than 52,000 migrant and refugee arrivals to Greece by sea in 2016, over 35 times more than in January 2015.
