ANKARA (Sputnik) — At least 15 migrants died on Friday as a result of a shipwreck off Turkey's Black Sea coast near the Kocaeli province, local coast guard said.
"According to preliminary data, 40 people were rescued, 15 died. The Coast Guard is continuing to search for the 13-15 missing," the statement said.
According to earlier reports, four migrants were killed in the incident.
The illegal migrants often use Turkey as a transit territory on the way to European shores. The routes are usually through the Aegean Sea to Greece and rarely through the Black Sea to Bulgaria and Romania.
The European countries have been experiencing an acute migration crisis since 2015 due to the influx of thousands of migrants and refugees fleeing violence from their home countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Hundreds of thousands of migrants are trying to reach European countries using various routes, including via Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Balkan states.
