Turkish television "Haber Turk" and the Antalya governor's office reported the discovery of eight bodies washed ashore on a beach in southern Turkey over the past six days. Most of the bodies are believed to belong to individuals who were on board a missing migrant vessel on its way to Cyprus from the coast between Lebanon and Syria.
Haber Turk stated that "authorities in Antalya found the bodies of an adult and a child in the Manavgat and Alanya regions on Wednesday, followed by three more bodies in the area on Thursday, and a sixth body yesterday, Sunday." It added that "the last two bodies were found on a hotel beach in the Serik region today, bringing the total number of bodies to eight."
In a statement released yesterday, before the latest two bodies were found, the local governor's office indicated that "one of the bodies belongs to an American citizen who was missing, and autopsy examinations will be conducted on it." It explained that the other five bodies may belong to individuals who were on the vessel headed to Cyprus, adding that weather records over the past week suggest that the vessel may have sunk and that the bodies were washed northward towards Turkey.
