UPDATES WITH MIGRANTS HELD AT KASTAMONU PROVINCE, REVISES HEADLINE AND DECK
By Serhat Zafer
SIVAS, Turkey (AA) - At least 166 undocumented migrants were held in central Sivas and northern Kastamonu provinces, while two bodies were recovered from the Aegean Sea on Friday, according to a police source.
Out of the total, 39 migrants, including women and children were rounded up during a police search of a passenger bus in Sivas, which was travelling from eastern Agri province to Istanbul.
Among them were 27 Afghans and 12 Pakistanis.
Separately, bodies of two migrants were recovered from the Aegean Sea off the coast of southwestern Mugla province, the Coast Guard Command said in a statement.
The bodies were found after a group of undocumented migrants had sought help from the Coast Guard teams at 5 nautical miles north of Kardak islets, whose status is disputed between Greece and Turkey.
Search-and-rescue operations in the area continue.
Moreover, police held 127 undocumented migrants in Kastamonu province, when a bus carrying them crashed into a car and police arrived at the scene later, according to a police source.
The source added that among them were 64 Afghans, 62 Pakistanis and a Cameroonian.
The driver of the bus was arrested, the source added.
*Ali Balli contributed to this piece from Mugla and Hasan Yilmaz from Kastamonu.