17 migrants drown

MADRID: At least 12 migrants died and another four were missing after a rubber duck boat sank off the Aegean coast near Turkey.

Meanwhile hundreds of migrants are feared drowned off Libya’s coast after five bodies were found near two capsized boats. A search for a third vessel reported missing proved futile.

Migrant dinghies normally carry more than 100 people.

The UN refugee agency said it was “deeply alarmed”. – AP