SEVEN DEAD AS MIGRANT BOAT CAPSIZES OFF TURKEY

Thirteen immigrants were rescued after local residents heard cries from the sea and sailed out in a fishing boat.

6/11/2009- Seven people, among them five children, drowned after a boat carrying illegal immigrants capsized off Turkey's southwestern coast on its way to a nearby Greek island, Anatolia news agency reported Friday. The boat, carrying Afghan nationals and their two Turkish smugglers, capsized late Thursday off the resort of Bodrum amid adverse weather conditions, the agency said. Thirteen immigrants were rescued after local residents heard cries from the sea and sailed out in a fishing boat, also calling the security forces. The coastguard first retrieved the bodies of five immigrants -- an adult, three children and a baby -- as well as one of the Turkish smugglers. They later found another child's body. The second Turkish smuggler was believed to have reached the shore safely. Security forces detained two people in connection to the ill-fated voyage, Anatolia said, but it was not immediately clear whether the second trafficker was among them. Turkey lies on a major human-smuggling route from Asia to Europe and migrants from Africa and the Middle East are rounded up on a daily basis. Deadly sea accidents are frequent as traffickers often use unseaworthy vessels. At least 50 people drowned in December 2007 when an overloaded boat capsized in bad weather in the Aegean Sea.
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