Migrant boats flood in Turkey, 7 dead

Seven people have found death after the boat on which they traveled flooded into a lake in Turkey, officials reported.

The victims were immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

At least 64 other migrants were rescued and sent to nearby hospitals and shelters, the province's office of governor Bitlis said in a statement.

The boat carrying over 70 migrants was flooded at Lake Van when it approached the city of Adilceva, it said in a statement.

Five people were found dead at the scene and two others died in the hospital.

The governor's office said emergency response teams and police divers were immediately sent to the scene of the incident.

It is not clear why migrants were traveling by boat, not by road transport.

Lake Van is close to Iran, but lies completely within Turkey's borders.

There are some 3.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, although technically they are only under “temporary protection”, because the government does not offer them official refugee status.

The European Union has financed Turkey with hundreds of millions of dollars in order to keep refugees on its territory.