A boat set out from the  Sigacik gulf in the district of Seferihisar, part of the Aegean province of Izmir, to take illegal refugees to a Greek island.

The boat was filled with Palestinian, Somali, Mauretanian, Syrian and Iraqi refugees.

Overcrowded boat, bad weather, no captain 

The small boat was overfilled and bad weather conditions contributed to the accident. In addition, it has emerged that the Turkish captain involved in the trafficking organisation handed over the control of the boat to a refugee soon after leaving the Turkish coast. The Turkish man is said to have jumped into the water around 200 metres from the coast and to have left the refugees on their own.

2,500 Euros paid to die 

According to today's "Radikal" newspaper, between 65 and 85 people were on the 15-metre boat. They boarded the boat in the night from Saturday to Sunday. Those rescued said that they paid between 1,500 and 2,500 Euros to be taken to Greece. Some of the refugees had come from Istanbul, while others had been living in Izmir as "asylum seekers" with temporary residence permits granted by the United Nations.

Turkish authorities were alerted to the accident when residents at the coast heard cries for help on Sunday morning.
The number of dead bodies found is 46 so far, with more expected. Rescue and search operations were carried out with a helicopter and boat from the coast guards, boats from the civil defense life saving units as well as fishing boats from Sigacik harbour. Around 160 people took part in the operations.

Because the last body found was around 3 miles off the coast, yesterday's search area was widened.

46 dead bodies so far 

Seferihisar's Chief Prosecutor Mehmet Sahin said on Tuesday (10 December): "We have done the autopsies on the 43 bodies found yesterday. Today three more bodies were found and are examined. Because there are no IDs, we cannot identify the dead. The six persons who were rescued alive are Palestinian."

Sahin added that an investigation was under way.

One of the rescued Palestinians, Mustafa Kamil, said: "We gathered in small groups. That is why the groups did not know each other. We were very crowded on the boat. Suddenly there were shouts and panic. I did not see how and why the boat capsized." (NZ/TK)