Miracle at sea: Turkish fishermen pluck 18-month-old migrant boy from water

The New York-based worldwide watchdog body said it spoke to nine witnesses who described eight incidents in which masked assailants – often armed – intercepted and disabled the boats carrying asylum seekers and migrants from Turkey toward the Greek islands, most recently on October 7 and 9, 2015. Then, they saw a group of refugees floating in their life jackets.

The video footage captured by one of the fishermen at the Agean Sea waters shows the migrant family screaming and asking for help in Kurdish language.

They soon noticed he was making sounds, causing one fisherman to exclaim “he’s alive, he’s alive!” We suspected a hypothermia, as the baby was cold and his hands, feet were all white.

According to reports, at least two refugees died and 16 others went missing in two separate accidents when boats heading to Greece from Turkey capsized off the Aegean coast. “He was also frothing at the mouth”, boat captain Recep Evran told local press.

Muhammad was taken to hospital in the western coastal town of Kusadasi before being transferred to Izmir where he is now reported to be in good health.

“We were very upset [because we thought] he wasn’t alive”, said Evran, according to the Associated Press.

“They were trying to explain with hand signs that there were 30 people in the water”.

“At first when they approached, we thought they had come to help us, but by the way they acted, we realized they hadn’t come to help”.

A group of refugees – including more children – floating in life jackets are then spotted nearby and pulled onto the boat.

More than 500,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived in Europe in 2015, fleeing countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea – many via risky sea crossings on unsuitable boats and vessels. “At that moment, it was like we were given the world”, he added.

A Greek coastguard source said the claims were under investigation but despite searches, they had not been able to locate the alleged perpetrators.