18 people drown after migrant boat sinks off Turkish coast

At least 18

trying to reach Greece

ed when their boat sank off the Turkish coast late Friday.

The Turkish

Guard officials said they were en route from the coastal town of Bodrum to the Greek island of Kalimnos when their 14-meter-long wooden boat sank.

The victims were mostly young children and babies. Before the fatal accident, the boat had been packed with 32 refugees from Syria, Iraq and Pakistan.

Another 14 people trying to stay afloat on the makeshift boat's deck, were rescued by a coast guard boat, who recognized the boat capsized off the Küçük Kiremit island off the western city of Muğla.

The victims were taken to a morgue in Bodrum state hospital, the local media said.

One man of Syrian origin travelling with the refugees was detained for allegedly planning the Greece-bound clandestine sea journey. He is said to be the boat's captain and the person who illegally organized the ill-fated trip.

As many as 300,000 refugees have arrived in Greece so far this year on their way to other EU countries. The International Organization for Migration said that refugees arriving in Greece usually set out from Turkey's Aegean coast, which is close to the Greek islands.