Six suspected illegal immigrants drown off Turkish coast

Published June 30th, 2002 - 02:00 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

Six suspected illegal immigrants have drowned and six others have gone missing off Turkey's western coast after the boat carrying them to Greece sunk, officials said on Friday.  

 

Six other passengers survived the accident off the Aegean resort town of Bodrum, local sub-governor Cumhur Guven told the NTV news channel, according to AFP.  

 

The survivors told authorities that 18 people were aboard the small vessel when it embarked overnight on a clandestine journey from Bodrum to the nearby Greek island of Kos, Guven said.  

 

"The boat sunk probably after colliding with a bigger vessel in the dark," the official said. The Turkish coast guard had recovered six bodies and were continuing to search for the missing passengers, he added.  

 

Guven did not give information about the nationality of the immigrants, while NTV said some of them were thought to be from Somalia. (Albawaba.com)

© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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