'He's alive, he's alive!': Refugee baby rescued from Aegean Sea

Updated
Watch Rescue of Baby by Turkish Fisherman
Watch Rescue of Baby by Turkish Fisherman

Two fishermen who rescued an 18-month-old Syrian migrant baby visited the child and his mother on Saturday, days after they found him floating on the Aegean Sea, according to a Turkish news agency.

Fishermen Recep Evran and Cenap Gumran met with little Muhammed Hasan and his mother, Lorin Halef, in the western province of Izmir, according to news agency DHA. The boy's father is still in Syria.

Muhammed was rescued on Wednesday, when the fishermen spotted him floating in a life jacket, after the boat carrying him and around a dozen others to a nearby Greek island sank, according to DHA.

The dramatic footage shows Muhammad being plucked from the water as the fishermen scrambled to save his life.

%shareLinks-quote="We were very upset [because we thought] he wasn't alive." type="quote" author="Recep Evran" authordesc="Rescuer" isquoteoftheday="false"%

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Evran said when the fishermen first spotted the boy they they thought he had drowned.

"We thought he was dead. Then, when we were pulling Muhammed to the boat, we heard his voice ... And at that moment, we were ecstatic. I said 'He's alive, he's alive!"

The boy's mother, Lorin Hanef, thanked the fishermen for saving her son.

"The two of you gave him a new life. We are grateful to you. May God bless you," she said.

Mohammed and the mother now are in good health, as are the other two boys, officials told NBC News.

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