Photo of drowned sirian boy sparks outcry

At least 12 Syrians trying to reach Greece have drowned off Turkey after the boats they were travelling in sank. An image of one of the victims – a young boy lying face down on the beach – has sparked an international outcry over the human cost of the crisis. The picture, released by a Turkish news agency, is trending worldwide on Twitter under the #KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (“humanity washed ashore”) hashtag.

Thousands of migrants have died this year trying to reach Europe by sea.

The Turkish coastguard said the migrants had set off from Turkey’s Bodrum peninsula for the Greek island of Kos in the early hours of Wednesday morning, but the two boats they were in sank shortly afterwards.

Twelve bodies, including five children, were recovered. Of 23 people on board the two boats, only nine people are thought to have survived – some made it to shore with life jackets.

The beach where the bodies were found has become suddenly notorious, but on any day there you will find the debris – deflated dinghy parts, the abandoned belongings of those attempting the crossing – of the desperate

The image of the young boy, shown wearing a red T-shirt and lying face-down on the beach near Bodrum, was published shortly after the bodies washed up on shore at about 06:00 local time.

Turkish news agency Dogan said he and the rest of the group were Syrians from the besieged town of Kobane who had fled to Turkey last year to escape advancing militants from the Islamic State (IS) group.

Turkish media describe relatives breaking down as they identified the bodies.

The pictured boy is reported to be three-year-old Aylan, who drowned along with his five-year-old brother Galip and their mother, Rihan. Their father, Abdullah Kurdi, survived.

He and his family reportedly sought asylum in Canada before attempting the journey – but their refugee application was turned down.

Teema Kurdi, Abdullah’s sister who lives in Vancouver, told Canada’s National Post newspaper that she had been trying to help them leave the Middle East.

Abdullah is reported to have been kidnapped and tortured during the siege of Kobane by Islamic State or another jihadist group.

“I was trying to sponsor them […] but we couldn’t get them out, and that is why they went in the boat,” she said.

The family is believed to have no other option because Syrian Kurdish refugees in Turkey find it almost impossible to get an exit visa unless they have a passport, which few do.

A local fisherman who discovered the bodies on the shore said: “I came to the sea and I was scared. My heart is broken.”