ANKARA
At least 12 people drowned in the Aegean Sea when two boats filled with refugees sank en route to Greece on Wednesday, Turkish authorities said.
The refugees were on their way to Greece from the Turkish tourist resort town of Bodrum.
According to Turkish officials, 11 dead were recovered near the first boat; however, search-and-rescue teams were able to save three people and were continuing to look for two missing people.
Also, Turkish authorities recovered the body of a child near the second boat. They were able to rescue 13 people near the dinghy boat found offshore of Bodrum's Akyarlar coast.
Apart from being a tourist destination, Bodrum is a popular location for refugees trying to reach Kos, which is considered among the shortest routes by sea from Asia to an EU state.
In the first five months of 2015, over 42,000 people arrived by sea to Greece, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.
