A Syrian toddler has been plucked out of the sea and resuscitated after he and the group of refugees he was with got into difficulty off the coast of Turkey October 2015. Photo / Supplied
A Syrian toddler has been plucked out of the sea and resuscitated after he and the group of refugees he was with got into difficulty off the coast of Turkey October 2015. Photo / Supplied
Turkish fishermen rescued a toddler floating in the water after a migrant boat bound for Greece capsized.
Video footage captured by one of the men on board the fishing boat shows the 18-month-old wearing a life jacket being plucked from the Aegean Sea and treated.
Despite three rescuers initially thinking the youngster was dead, he is now in 'good health' in hospital.
The dramatic rescue took place near the town of Kusadasi after the boat sank on October 21, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
It is believed that 15 migrants were rescued and another 15 were missing after it capsized.
The boy, who has since been identified as Muhammad Hasan, was thought to be dead until he began making noises.
Recep Evran, the fishing boat's captain, told Hurriyet Daily News: 'He was all pale. We suspected hypothermia as he was cold and his hands and feet were all white. He was also frothing at the mouth.'
The video shows one man turning the boy upside down, seemingly in an attempt to get the water out of his system. Muhammad was covered with a blanket before being taken to Kusadasi.
Muhammad is at Izmir State Hospital, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
The fishermen reportedly rescued 15 people - most of whom were women, including one who was pregnant, who had been in the water for dive hours.
More than half a million migrants have arrived in Greece by sea this year and the rate of arrivals is rising as people rush to beat the onset of the freezing weather. On Monday alone, more than 8,000 arrived.
'We are reporting 25 deaths in the Aegean (Sea) this week, many of them children,' said Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
In all, more than 643,000 migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year and at least 3,135 have died en route, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
