The distraught father of two Syrian toddlers who drowned with their mother and several other migrants as they tried to reach Greece identified their bodies on Thursday, September 3, and prepared to take them back to their home town of Kobani.

"I was holding my wife's hand. My children slipped away from my hands. We tried to hold on to the boat," he said in the statement. "Everyone was screaming in pitch darkness. I couldn't make my voice heard to my wife and kids."

The image of Aylan, drowned off one of Turkey's most popular holiday resorts, went viral on social media and piled pressure on European leaders.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the crisis with his French counterpart Francois Hollande, Erdogan's office said.

"European countries, which have turned the Mediterranean, the cradle of the world's oldest civilisations, into a cemetery for refugees, shares the sin for every refugee who loses their life," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara.

Meanwhile French Prime Minister Manuel Valls took to Twitter: "He had a name: Aylan Kurdi. Urgent action required - A Europe-wide mobilisation is urgent," he wrote.

Source: Twitter/ @bouckap