Migrant Rescue Filmed On Coastguard's Camera
Dramatic video has been released showing the Turkish coastguard rescuing a migrant who was stuck on the end of a sinking boat.
The footage, taken from a camera on the rescuer’s head or jacket, shows him being winched down from a helicopter into choppy seas below.
He then makes his way towards the unidentified migrant who is standing on the edge of a stricken vessel that appears close to sinking.
The man, wearing a lifejacket, is told to jump off the boat and into the arms of the rescuer off the coast of Edremit
A harness is then placed around him and he is winched to the safety of the aircraft above.
Afterwards, the migrant was taken to dry land where he was treated by emergency services. His condition is not known.
The rescue came as the United Nations demanded Turkey let in thousands of Syrians who have gathered at the border after fleeing government and Russian airstrikes in the city of Aleppo.
Up to 50,000 have been at the border and while Turkey insisted it has an open-door policy toward Syrians escaping conflict, it has kept a key crossing at Kilis closed for days.
Government officials said Turkey will provide assistance to the displaced Syrians within their own borders “as much as possible” and would allow them in “when necessary”.
Among those who have been able to cross the border are the injured but most are being helped at a refugee camp nearby in Syria by Turkish authorities and charities.
The UN has warned 300,000 people in Aleppo could soon be cut off from getting humanitarian aid as Syrian government and Russian forces surrounded the city.
Local leaders believe up to 150,000 could try to flee to nearby Afrin and the surrounding countryside, said the UN.
UNHCR spokesman William Spindler has asked Turkey to open the border to “all civilians who are fleeing danger and seeking international protection as they have done since the start of this crisis.”
Mr Spindler also urged other countries to take in more refugees and work to end the conflict.
“The answer to this crisis is for the peace process to continue in Syria and for the conflict to be solved,” he said.
