CANAKKALE, Turkey

The Turkish Coast Guard rescued 51 refugees off the northwestern Canakkale province coast on Sunday when their small boat began to sink, Turkish official sources said.

The rescued came from Afghanistan, Burma and Tibet, said a Turkish Coast Guard official on condition of anonymity.

The incident took place off the coast of the province’s Ayvacik district in the Aegean Sea. The boat was headed towards the Greek island of Lesbos.

According to the International Organization for Migration, 3,563 people have died in the Mediterranean so far this year as they attempted to reach European shores, a figure that includes 589 around Turkey.