Nine people, including two babies, were found drowned off the coast of western Turkey today after a boat carrying people to Greece partly capsized, the coast guard said.
The fibre glass vessel partially capsized before dawn off the coast of Seferihisar in Izmir province, close to the Greek Island of Samos.
Two people were rescued swimming to the shore, the Turkish coast guard said.
A crackdown on illegal crossing and the dangerous winter conditions have failed to deter tens of thousands from boarding flimsy boats and attempting to cross the Mediterranean in the first few weeks of the year.
More than 360 people died in the Mediterranean in January including more than 100 over the final weekend, the International Organisation for Migration said today.
In January, 60 children died trying to get to Greece in this way, bringing the total number of minors drowning on this route to 330 over the past five months.
IOM said more than 67,000 had arrived in Greece and Italy,the vast majority in the former, compared with 5,000 in the same month in 2015.
Growing number of children in migrant sea crossings: UN
Meanwhile the United Nations has said that children now make up more than one third of the migrants and refugees making the perilous sea journey from Turkey to Greece, marking a sharp increase in recent months.
The UN children's agency said: "Children currently account for 36% of those risking the treacherous sea crossing between Greece and Turkey."
For the first time since the start of the migrant crisis in Europe, there are now more women and children crossing the border from Greece to Gevgelilja in Macedonia than adult males according to a UN spokeswoman.
She said: "Children and women on the move now make up nearly 60%".
That compares to June last year, when 73% of the migrants on the move were adult ales, and when only on in 10 were under the age of 18, she said.
