Bodies of 2 tragic boys washed up on the beach

TWO young brothers were among 12 refugees who drowned trying to reach the Greek island of Kos when the boats carrying them capsized at night.

Galip Kurdi, fi ve, and Aylan Kurdi, three, were with their parents on an overcrowded dinghy fi lled with 16 refugees fl eeing Syria when it capsized shortly after leaving the Turkish mainland.

Tourists in the resort of Bodrum looked on in horror as a local policeman had the grim task of carrying Aylan’s limp body, clad in a red T- shirt and blue shorts, from the beach where it had washed up along with his brother and six other passengers.

Collapsed

The tragedy last night became a symbol of the crisis engulfi ng Europe .

The boys’ parents, who were among the eight who survived the midnight sinking, collapsed after seeing their sons’ bodies at a mortuary and are now in hospital in Bodrum.

Another dinghy heading for Kos capsized half an hour after the fi rst. Four of its six passengers – three children and their mother – drowned, leaving just two male survivors.

The victims, all thought to be Syrians, are just a few of the estimated 2,500 people who have already died this year trying to fl ee violence and poverty and reach Europe by sea.