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5 migrants trying to reach Greece drown off Turkish coast, highlighting risks of crossings

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Turkish Coast Guard personnel carry a body bag, with one of migrants that were drowned as they were trying to cross on a boat to the nearby Greek island of Kos, after they were brought to the port of Bodrum, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. Migrants that were rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard watch as they sit on the right. With the shores of Kos - a gateway to Europe - just a few kilometers (miles) away, hundreds of migrants are piling into tiny inflatable dinghies each night and attempting to make the crossing powered by tiny outboard motors and plastic paddles. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (The Associated Press)

Migrants who were rescued by Turkish Coast Guard as they were trying to cross on a boat to the nearby Greek island of Kos, sit after they were brought to the port of Turgutreis near the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. With the shores of Kos - a gateway to Europe - just a few kilometers (miles) away, hundreds of migrants are piling into tiny inflatable dinghies each night and attempting to make the crossing powered by tiny outboard motors and plastic paddles. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (The Associated Press)

A migrant that was rescued by the Turkish Coast Guard sits on the foreground, Turkish Coast Guard personnel carry a body bag, with one of the migrants that were drowned as they were trying to cross on a boat to the nearby Greek island of Kos, after they were brought to the port of Bodrum, Turkey, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015. With the shores of Kos - a gateway to Europe - just a few kilometers (miles) away, hundreds of migrants are piling into tiny inflatable dinghies each night and attempting to make the crossing powered by tiny outboard motors and plastic paddles. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis) (The Associated Press)

Five people have drowned off the Turkish coast as they tried to reach the Greek islands, underscoring the deadly risks of making even short crossings to Europe in overcrowded plastic dinghies.

Early Tuesday, an Associated Press video and photo team saw the Turkish coast guard unload five body bags from a patrol boat as rescued migrants, one man with his head in his hands, sat on the wharf.

A wailing young boy and a man were put into ambulances as survivors looked on.

Details of the nationalities and identities of the dead were not immediately available.

Bodrum coast guard declined comment. State-run Anadolu news agency also reported that five migrants drowned.