(Photo: VCG)

A minibus carrying undocumented immigrants overturned in Turkey's eastern province of Van on Thursday, killing at least 15 and injuring over 20 others, local broadcaster NTV reported.

The accident occurred on the highway from the provincial capital of Van to Ozalp district when the driver lost control of the steering wheel near Ipekyolu district, according to state-run Anadolu Agency.

Mehmet Emin Bilmez, governor of Van Province, said there were women and children among the dead. 

More than a million migrants and refugees, many fleeing conflicts and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, have passed through Turkey in recent years on their way to the European Union.