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Bodies of 22 illegal migrants washed up on Greek-Turkey border
Athens, Sept 10: The decaying bodies of at least 22 would-be illegal immigrants have been washed ashore on the banks of the river marking the border between Greece and Turkey after their overloaded boat capsized, Greek hospital sources said today.
Athens, Sept 10: The decaying bodies of at least 22 would-be illegal immigrants have been washed ashore on the banks of the river marking the border between Greece and Turkey after their overloaded boat capsized, Greek hospital sources said today.
The 22 corpses of "Asian origin" aged between 25 and
30, including two women, were brought for autopsy in the
nearby Alexandroupolis University Hospital, its director
Panayiotis Sioutis told a news agency.
They "most probably" died four or five days ago, Sioutis said. The migrants apparently died attempting to cross into Greece across the Evros river when their overladen boat capsized, Evros region vice-prefect Michalis Kouyioumtzis told private radio station flash.
Their corpses at first probably sunk to the bottom of the river and rose up to the surface after the corpses began bulging up, he said. The first bodies were found late yesterday by a military patrol on a bank of the river, some 20 kilometres before it flows into the Aegean Sea.
Firemen and more troops discovered the remaining bodies early today. Five were found on the Turkish bank of the river.
No survivors have been found. Troops and firemen were continuing searches in the river. Turkey and Greece lie along a major route for human-smuggling from Asia to Europe. Illegal immigrants are detained almost on a daily basis.
Bureau Report
They "most probably" died four or five days ago, Sioutis said. The migrants apparently died attempting to cross into Greece across the Evros river when their overladen boat capsized, Evros region vice-prefect Michalis Kouyioumtzis told private radio station flash.
Their corpses at first probably sunk to the bottom of the river and rose up to the surface after the corpses began bulging up, he said. The first bodies were found late yesterday by a military patrol on a bank of the river, some 20 kilometres before it flows into the Aegean Sea.
Firemen and more troops discovered the remaining bodies early today. Five were found on the Turkish bank of the river.
No survivors have been found. Troops and firemen were continuing searches in the river. Turkey and Greece lie along a major route for human-smuggling from Asia to Europe. Illegal immigrants are detained almost on a daily basis.
Bureau Report