AFP, Istanbul

Nineteen migrants who had boarded a rubber dinghy drowned yesterday in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Bodrum, in southwestern Turkey, the Turkish coastguard said.

“Following search and rescue operations, 21 undocumented migrants were rescued alive, while the bodies of 19 others were recovered,” the coastguard said in a statement.

There was no immediate information about the nationality of the migrants. “Efforts to determine the status of the missing (migrants) and search and rescue operations are continuing in this case,” the coastguard said.

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.