18 people died in a boat incident in Turkey when an inflatable vessel carrying migrants sank off Turkey's western province of Mugla on Wednesday.
The coast guard said the boat, with an outboard motor, was detected at 0300 GMT off the coast of Mugla's Bodrum district and that it tried to flee despite repeated warnings to stop.
The boat later took in water due to adverse weather and sea conditions in the area and sank.
The Aegean Sea is a frequent transit route for thousands of migrants attempting to cross from North Africa and the Middle East into Europe, particularly from Turkey, which hosts millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The officials stated in a statement that search and rescue efforts continued as a Coast Guard helicopter and three boats were dispatched for search and rescue operations in the area that resulted in rescuing 21 people so far.
The statement did not say where the boat had departed from or where it was heading.
The latest incident news comes weeks after 14 died when a migrant boat crashed into a Turkish coast guard vessel off the southwestern province of Antalya.
The collision also involved an inflatable boat carrying migrants or refugees that sank off the Finike district of southwestern Türkiye's Antalya province.
