At least six people died and nearly 50 were missing after a Georgian-flagged cargo ship bound for Greece with dozens of people in its hold split in two and sank off Turkey's Mediterranean coast yesterday, officials said.
Coastguard commander, Mr Can Karaca, said in Antalya that rescuers had saved more than 30 people and pulled six bodies from the water near the wreck of the Pati before high winds and cold weather forced them to suspend the search.
Those rescued include six of the ship's 10 crew, and 10 Iranians and 16 Pakistanis who had been in the ship's hold and apparently hoped to enter Greece illegally.
One section of the ship was stuck on offshore rocks which officials believed it had struck, and some of the missing were thought to be in a sunken portion of the vessel.
"It's not clear how many people were on board, but our best estimate now is 83. We hope to resume the search with better results when the weather lets up," an official said. "Prosecutors have begun an investigation into where these people were picked up and who organised it. The ship left Antalya harbour registered as empty," he said.
Mr Karaca said one of the Pakistanis had told rescuers he had been locked in the hold with about 50 other people.
The state-run Antolian news agency quoted an official of a shipping company that had a contract with the Pati as saying it had a gross weight of 399 tonnes, and had sailed from Israel's Ashdod harbour on December 27th to take on a cargo of cement.
He said the ship had been unable to load the cargo because of an extended holiday and heavy snow in much of inland Turkey last week, and had had mechanical problems on Sunday.