ANKARA, Nov 12 (AFP) - The number of people known to have died when a boat carrying illegal immigrants sank off Turkey's western coast rose to 11 when the coast guard found two more bodies, a local official said Friday.
The bodies were recovered Thursday and Friday in the Aegean sea off the coast of Seferihisar, in Izmir province, where the boat is believed to have sunk in bad weather late Tuesday, sub-governor Mahmet Godekmerdan told the Anatolia news agency.
Twenty people -- one Turk, six Somalians and 13 Mauritanians -- were believed to have been aboard the boat that sank on its way to Greece.
Nine bodies washed up while four survivors, including the Turk, managed to swim ashore.
Five people are still missing, but the coast guard will stop search and rescue work later Friday when the 72 hours allocated for such operations lapses, Gokmerdan said.
Illegal immigrants from Asia and Africa try daily to make the sea crossing from Turkey to nearby Greece, a member of the European Union with a long, porous coastline, and dozens have lost their lives in the attempt in recent years.
11/12/2004 14:50 GMT - AFP