One dead, seven missing after migrant boat sinks off Turkiye

Afghan migrants watch from inside a life raft during a rescue operation by the Turkish coast guard, in the Aegean Sea, between Turkiye and Greece, Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

One person died and seven others were missing Saturday after a migrant boat sank in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Turkiye, the Turkish coast guard said.

Thirty-seven passengers on a rubber dinghy which took on water before dawn off the western city of Dikili, north of Izmir, were rescued alive, the coast guard stated.

Dikili, a small seaside resort, faces the Greek island of Lesbos, some 20 kilometres (12 miles) away.

“Search operations ... are continuing to find the seven missing irregular migrants,” the coast guard said.

Shipwrecks are common for perilous crossings to the Greek islands, which are a gateway to the European Union.

Nearly 1,900 migrants either disappeared or were found drowned in the Mediterranean in 2025, according to the International Organization for Migration.