Fourteen people died after a boat carrying irregular migrants collided with a Turkish coast guard vessel off the coast of Antalya in southern Turkey early Monday, Turkish Minute reported, citing the DHA news agency.
The incident occurred off Finike, a district on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, after the vessel carrying migrants failed to comply with a warning to stop from coast guard units, according to a statement from the Coast Guard Command.
Coast guard teams detected the boat at around 2:30 a.m. and dispatched two patrol vessels to intercept the high-speed fiberglass craft.
At about 5:00 a.m., the boat ignored orders to stop, changed course and struck a coast guard vessel, the statement said.
A number of migrants on board fell into the water after the collision. Fourteen died, while 15 fled the scene in a rubber boat, reached the shore and were later detained, the coast guard said.
The Coast Guard Command dispatched a helicopter, a ship and three additional vessels to the area to conduct search and rescue operations.
Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin said later on Monday that the boat was carrying irregular migrants from Afghanistan, including women and children.
Six suspects were taken into custody in connection with the incident, the coast guard said. An investigation is ongoing.
Fatal incidents involving migrant boats are common in the eastern Mediterranean, one of the world’s busiest and deadliest migration routes. Migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and other countries frequently attempt the crossing from Turkey to nearby Greek islands in small, overcrowded boats operated by smuggling networks.
Shipwrecks and collisions occur regularly due to poor weather, overloaded vessels and attempts to evade patrols by Turkish or Greek authorities. Hundreds of migrants have died in recent years while trying to reach Europe through the Aegean and Mediterranean seas.
At least 606 migrants have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea since the start of 2026, the UN migration agency said in February.
“This marks the deadliest start to a year in the Mediterranean since IOM began recording such data in 2014,” the UN’s International Organization for Migration said.
