ISTANBUL, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Four undocumented migrants were killed and two others rescued on Monday, with more reported missing, after an incident in the Aegean Sea off Türkiye's western Izmir province, the Coast Guard Command said.

The command said on its website that at 2:04 a.m. local time (2304 GMT Sunday), it received information that migrants had gone overboard from a rubber boat off the coast of Karaburun district and were in need of assistance.

"Rescue units dispatched to the area saved two migrants alive and recovered the bodies of four others," the statement noted.

The survivors informed authorities that additional migrants were still unaccounted for, prompting continued search and rescue operations at sea.

The total number of migrants on the boat and their intended destination were not immediately disclosed.

The Aegean Sea has long served as a major route for migrants seeking to reach Europe through Türkiye.

Türkiye, one of the world's leading host countries for refugees, currently shelters around 4 million migrants, the majority of them Syrians, according to the Presidential Directorate of Communications. ■