Two missing as immigrant ship sinks off Turkey

ANKARA - Two Mauritanians went missing Tuesday when a small boat carrying a group of would-be illegal immigrants to Greece sank off Turkey's western coast, Anatolia news agency reported.
Alerted by local fishermen who witnessed the accident off the Aegean town of Ayvalik, the coast guard rescued nine other passengers -- eight Iranians and a Mauritanian -- the agency said.
The survivors, who had entered Turkey illegally, were taken into police custody.
The four-meter (13-foot) ship capsized and sank shortly after it sailed from the Turkish coast to a nearby Greek island, Anatolia said.
There was no immediate word on the crew of the vessel.
Turkey lies on a major route for human-smuggling from Asia into Europe, and illegal immigrants are detained on a daily basis.
The immigrants mostly try to cross to Greece by land or brave sea journeys to Greece or Italy, often aboard unseaworthy vessels, at great risk to their lives.

03/22/2005 19:39 GMT