ANKARA, Dec 21: Around 60 people were feared drowned after a boat carrying would-be migrants sank off Turkey, coastguards said on Sunday.

Two coastguard boats and a helicopter were searching chilly winter seas off the Turkish holiday resort of Marmaris, but only one Iraqi survivor had so far been found, an official at the town’s coastguard told Reuters.

“We have not found anybody yet but rescue efforts will continue through the night as long as weather permits,” a coastguard official told Reuters.

The vessel was carrying Iraqi, Afghan and Jordanian migrants, another coastguard official said.

A passing ferry picked up the Iraqi survivor while search and rescue teams had only found the boat’s tiller and an empty life jacket.—Reuters