A Turkish court placed four Syrians in custody on Friday after a prosecutor charged them over the deaths of at least 12 people, including three-year-old Alan Kurdi, whose boat capsized as they tried to reach the Greek island of Kos, a local police chief told Reuters.

Prosecutors charged the Syrians with smuggling migrants and causing multiple deaths by "conscious negligence" in connection with the drowning of the group after it set off from the Turkish resort peninsula of Bodrum.

The picture of Alan's body washed up on the beach in Turkey swept across social media and sparked outrage at the perceived inaction by developed countries to address the migrant crisis.