UPDATE - 15 dead as refugee boat capsizes in Black Sea

UPDATES WITH FRESH DEATH TOLL AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE RESCUED

By Sahin Oktay, Tahir Turan Eroglu, Ibrahim Aktas

KOCAELI, Turkey (AA) - At least 15 people died after a fishing vessel carrying illegal migrants sank in the Black Sea off Turkey’s northwestern province of Kocaeli on Friday, Turkish Coast Guard said.

Search-and-rescue teams have managed to rescue 40 migrants so far after the boat sank at 5.03 a.m. local time (0203GMT) around 64 nautical miles north of the village of Kefken, a written statement said.

TCSG-74, a coast guard boat carrying rescued migrants, arrived at Kefken port in Kandira district of the province.

The rescued were being treated in a mobile hospital at the port. Two of them, who are in serious condition, were taken to the Kocaeli State Hospital, the statement added.

Search efforts are ongoing to find other 15 to 20 missing migrants.