ANKARA: Seventeen Syrian refugees drowned on Sunday when their boat sank in Turkish waters on its way to Greece, local media reported, while the Italian coastguard said it had rescued some 500 migrants in the Mediterranean this weekend.

The bodies of the dead Syrians — including five children — were discovered by the Turkish coastguard inside the cabin of their wooden boat, which had set off from the holiday resort town of Bodrum for the Greek island of Leros, the Dogan news agency reported.

Another 20 migrants, who were on the boat’s deck and had been wearing life jackets, survived and swam back to the Turkish coast, Dogan said. They were taken to a morgue in Bodrum to identify their drowned relatives.

Among the dead was a three-year-old boy named Yusuf, who was identified by his grief-stricken Syrian father, state news agency Anatolia said.

The tragedy came as the Italian coastguard launched seven operations in the Mediterranean over the weekend, plucking some 500 migrants from the water.

Published in Dawn, September 28th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play