Migrant with child swim ring saved by tourist boat amid desperate bid to cross from Turkey to Greece

İZMİR

A group of tourists off the southwestern Turkish province of Muğla were surprised to see an exhausted migrant in the sea, who was attempting to cross from Turkey to Greece with a child swim ring.

The migrant, identified as Nour Mohammad by local media on Oct. 19, was trying to swim to the Greek island of Kos (İstanköy), which is eight miles in distance from Muğla’s famous resort town of Bodrum.

The Turkish captain of the tourist boat jumped into the water and saved the exhausted man, who apparently did not know how to swim.

The captain also served the migrant with food and drinks on the yacht.

Mohammad, who swam for four hours with a bread in a plastic bag, was later detained by the Coast Guard and sent to a migration center.

According to local media reports on Oct. 20, Mohammad told the police that he decided to swim to Greece after all his money was stolen by human smugglers in Bodrum.