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Nineteen people, including a baby, drowned when a rubber dinghy carrying Afghan migrants sank in the rough seas off Türkiye's Bodrum coast early Wednesday.
The vessel ignored multiple coastguard warnings to stop and took on water while fleeing at high speed, authorities said.
Twenty-one migrants were rescued alive, with 20 receiving medical treatment. One survivor died in the hospital during treatment.
Search and rescue operations continued by air and sea in difficult weather conditions due to heavy rain and storms.
The Turkish coastguard said a mobile coastal surveillance vehicle detected the speeding rubber dinghy with an outboard motor carrying a large number of migrants off the Yalikavak coast of Bodrum at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT).
A coastguard vessel was dispatched, which issued repeated visual and audio warnings to stop, but the boat "continued to flee at high speed despite all warnings," the coastguard said. It took on water "due to adverse weather and sea conditions" and sank.
A coastguard helicopter was dispatched from Izmir along with three additional coastguard boats. The rescue operation recovered 21 survivors and the bodies of 19 people, the coastguard said.
Mugla Governor Idris Akbiyik told Anadolu Agency that all passengers on the boat were Afghan nationals. "The boat took on water and sank due to adverse sea and weather conditions," Akbiyik said.
"Search operations from air and sea are continuing. Our investigation into the incident is ongoing," he added.
He confirmed that the dead included a baby.
The death toll rose from the initial 11 as recovery teams reached eight more bodies during continued operations amid challenging weather conditions. The total death toll stands at 20, including a survivor who died in hospital during treatment.
The coastguard statement did not say where the boat departed from or where it was headed.
Shipwrecks are common among vessels attempting the perilous crossing from Türkiye to the Greek islands, which serve as a gateway to the European Union.
The Aegean Sea is a frequent transit route for thousands of migrants attempting to cross from the Middle East and North Africa into Europe, particularly from Türkiye, which hosts millions of refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
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