UPDATE - Boat carrying undocumented migrants sinks off N.Cyprus

UPDATES WITH ARRIVAL OF 19 DROWNED BODIES AND 102 RESCUED UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS IN TURKEY'S MERSIN

By Murat Demirci

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - At least 19 undocumented migrants drowned after their boat sank off the coast of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday, officials said.

Northern Cypriot Coast Guard teams said 103 of the migrants were rescued, while 25 of them are reported missing off the coast of the town of Yeni Erenkoy.

Coast guard teams from Turkey also took part in the search and rescue, as the area is in Turkey’s rescue zone as well.

Nineteen bodies and 102 rescued migrants were brought to Tasucu port in Silifke district of Turkey’s southern Mersin province, while one rescued migrant had to be transferred to a hospital in a helicopter in Northern Cyprus' city of Girne.

Some of the migrants were taken to hospitals by ambulances waiting at the port.

The Turkish Red Crescent provided meals to those who did not need medical care.

According to the UN's International Organization for Migration, more than 1,400 migrants have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2018.