Bodies of drowned Syrian boys laid to rest in hometown

The bodies of two Syrian boys who drowned with their mother as the family desperately tried to flee the war-torn country have been buried in their hometown of Kobane.

Three-year-old Aylan Kurdi was laid to rest next to his brother Galip, five, and their mother Rehma, 35, in the place where their ill-fated journey began.

The story caused international outcry when an image of little Aylan lying dead on a beach in Turkey made headlines around the world.

What started out as the family trying to make a better life for themselves ended in tragedy when the overcrowded boat they were in flipped over.

Only their father Abdullah, who was rescued off the coat of Turkey barely conscious, survived.

Distraught Mr Kurdi told how he desperately tried to hold on to his family but they "slipped away".

"The waves were so high and the boat flipped," he said. "I took my wife and kids in my arms and I then I realised they were all dead."

Mr Kurdi's sister Teema lives in Canada but the family had an application to move there turned down.

In a cruel twist of fate, Canada has now granted Mr Kurdi citizenship after hearing what happened.

But he has turned it down as he wants to return to his hometown of Kobane so he can be buried alongside his family.

His sister Teema Kurdi told ITV News: "I just worry about my brother right now, how he feels.

"I can't even imagine any father or any mother...their kids to die in their arms and they can't do anything."

The dinghy the Kurdi family were in was only supposed to carry a maximum of 10 people but 17 were on board.

Of those 11, including Aylan, Galip and their mother, perished.

Four people suspected of people smuggling have been detained in Turkey.