ISTANBUL, Aug 1 (AFP) - A packed Turkish ferry took on water after hitting an unknown object in the Marmara Sea in the country`s northwest on Sunday, but all its 400 passengers were safely evacuated, officials said.
The accident occurred some 10 nautical miles off Bandirma, on the southern coast of the Marmara Sea, where the boat was heading from Istanbul, the operator of the service said, in a statement carried by Anatolia news agency.
The head of the Istanbul-based company, Ahmet Paksoy, told the agency that a boat summoned from Bandirma evacuated the 400 passengers.
Nobody was hurt in the incident.
The ferry was damaged in two places and there was a hole of 30 centimeters on its bottom side, officials said.
Two deadly accidents have recently drawn attention to transport safety in Turkey -- 37 people were killed last week when a fast train derailed in the country`s northwest and another 27 perished in a traffic pile-up in the east on Thursday.