The bodies of five Afghans who drowned when their boat capsized in a lake in Turkey last month were returned to Afghanistan on Wednesday.

The Afghan embassy in Turkey announced earlier this week that 59 migrants had died while crossing Van Lake in Turkey. Of the total, 29 were Afghans. 

Earlier this week, Sayed Abdul Basit Ansari, a spokesman for the Ministry of Immigrants and Repatriations said: “It has been agreed with Kam Air Airlines about transferring the bodies to Kabul. They will be brought from Istanbul and Ankara to Kabul for free by Kam Air.”

The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time also called on all Afghans to contact the ministry if they had lost contact with relatives.

This week, officials in Turkey were able to identify 29 Afghans. The rest of the migrants were mostly from Pakistan and Iran. 

AP meanwhile reported that Hashmatullah Noor was at the Kabul airport shortly before dawn to collect the bodies of his 19-year-old niece and nephew. He lost 10 relatives, all of them under 22 years old, in the tragedy. 
He told AP: “There are no jobs, only war. Our young people have no choice but to leave.” 

Reports indicate the boat, carrying between 55 and 60 migrants, was reported missing on June 27. Turkish authorities have said smugglers transport migrants across Lake Van, from Iran, in order to avoid police and military checkpoints. 

Turkey, which hosts about 3.7 million Syrian refugees, is a key crossing point for migrants trying to reach Europe.

AP reported that Turkish authorities have detained five people in connection with the tragedy and have removed a local administrator from office.

Meanwhile, according to Ansari, 35,000 Afghans applied for asylum in the European Union last year. 

This is not however the first boat to capsize in Lake Van. Another boat, also carrying Afghans along with Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, capsized in December last year. Seven people died in this incident.