21 killed as boat sinks off Turkey

Twenty-one people drowned and up to 15 more were missing yesterday after a fishing boat carrying migrants sank off Turkey's Black Sea coast, the coast guard said.

Forty migrants were rescued but search and rescue efforts were still under way to find seven to nine people missing in the incident off the Kefken district, the statement said. The area lies about 130 kilometres (80 miles) east of Istanbul.

Mehmet Unal, a local official in the nearby town of Kandira, said the boat was believed to be carrying 70 migrants, most of whom were Iraqis.

Unconfirmed media reports said were trying to cross into Romania.The boat reportedly sank due to bad weather and rough waters.

Turkey has emerged as a hub for migrants from trouble zones around the world including Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan who are seeking a route west to the European Union.

In 2015, around a million people undertook risky sea journeys to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, mostly to Greece from Turkey over the Aegean Sea.

Thousands died in the perilous crossing.  The numbers of migrants crossing the Aegean has now dwindled. But increasing numbers, now rising to hundreds within a month, are trying to cross the Black Sea from Turkey to EU member Romania.