ISTANBUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- One child and a baby died on Monday when a boat carrying illegal immigrants sank off Turkey's Aegean coast, the Turkish coast guard said.
The fiber boat with 35 illegal immigrants aboard capsized near the resort town of Ayvalik in the northwestern province of Balikesir, the force said in a statement posted on its website.
The coast guards rescued 33 migrants, the statement said.
The Aegean Sea was once the main route for migrants to flee into Europe via Turkey. A deal was signed between Ankara and the European Union in March 2016 to reduce the flow of illegal immigration.
Since this year, 43,272 migrants have attempted to reach the Greek islands via Turkey, up from 25,398 over the same period in 2018, according to figures released by the Turkish coast guard.
The force intercepted a total of 11,638 illegal immigrants in the Aegean in September alone, show the data.
