At first glance, it looks like a baby doll — maybe left behind by a pint-sized tourist in this popular beach resort.
The grim reality, however, is that the tiny figure captured in images released Wednesday is of a drowned child whose body washed up on the beach in Bodrum, Turkey.
NBC News has chosen not to display most of the images due to their graphic nature. The pictures show a child in a soaked red shirt, blue bottoms and tiny velcro-strap shoes lying face down in the sand. A Turkish policeman stands over him; in another image, the policeman cradles the body and carries the child away.
Another image showed an adult’s body covered up on the beach.
Two boats carrying what were believed to be Syrian refugees sank off the coast of Bodrum en route for Greece, according to Turkey’s Dogan news agency. It said at least 11 people died.
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Thousands of migrants have been following the same route in search of a better life in Europe. Many have made it; the child whose body washed up on the beach of Bodrum was just one of the scores who have perished.
Cassandra Vinograd