Turkish forces find 18-month-old boy's body in sea

IZMIR, Turkey

Turkish coast guards on Tuesday found the body of an 18-month-old boy in the Aegean sea off Izmir province.

The body was found while the coast guard units were intercepting a dinghy boat carrying undocumented migrants, said a security source who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restriction on speaking to the media.

The body, later identified as Revan Hassun, was transferred to the Forensic Medicine Institute in Izmir for an autopsy.

The teams also held 76 undocumented migrants en route to Greece in a boat in the sea off Dikili district of Izmir, the source added.

Seventy-four of the held migrants were Syrian nationals, including children, and two were citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Also, Turkish gendarmerie forces held 65 foreign nationals suspected of irregular migration in Dikili district before they set sail.

Fifty-two Syrians, nine Afghans and four Angolans were among the held suspects.

All of them were transferred to the migration management authorities.

Reporting by Safak Yel:Writing by Ilker Girit