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Abul kalam Azad escapes miraculously

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January 4, 2001 

  

ANKARA, JAN 3 (Bangla2000/AP) – A citizen of Bangladesh, Abulkalam Azad described the harrowing tales of the ill-fated ship. He was on board when the mishap occurred.


Divers pulled the body of a refugee from a sunken cargo ship Wednesday, but found no signs of the 41 other illegal immigrants believed to have been on the ship when it hit rocks off the southern coast of Turkey.


Navy rescuers called off their search Wednesday afternoon, but the coast guard was still scouring the coast off the holiday resort of Kemer for survivors or bodies. Police inland were looking for fugitives.


The recovered body brought the number of dead in the accident to nine. The Georgian-flagged Pati was carrying illegal immigrants to Greece when it slammed into rocks during a storm Monday and split in half.


The body was found chained to the ship, said Navy Col. Fevzi Tosun. It was not clear why the refugee was in chains.


Coast Guard Capt. Can Karaca, the director of the rescue operations, said the ship's cargo hold was not locked, as survivors had said. It was not clear if the missing swam out or if there were fewer passengers on board than survivors had stated.


Navy teams on Tuesday rescued a Bangladeshi, Abukalam Ajad, who swam from the ship to a rocky bay. Thirty-two others, including crew, were rescued earlier.


Ajad said he was in the cargo hold when the ship struck rocks.


"There was a big noise and I found myself in the water," the Milliyet newspaper quoted Ajad as saying.


"I fought against the waves and found refuge in the rocks. I was cold. I struggled to keep alive," Ajad was quoted as saying. "Life is beautiful."


Ajad was rescued 30 hours after the crash when helicopters spotted him in the deserted bay. He said he saw several people drown and body parts float about in the water.


Officials said body parts have washed up on the shore and there is little hope of finding other survivors.


Ajad said he entered Turkey from northern Iraq and boarded the ship on Dec. 28 from Antalya, 42 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of Kemer. At least 83 people - 10 crew members and 73 passengers - were on board the ship, survivors said.


Turkish authorities said the survivors included 17 Pakistanis, nine Indians, three Albanians, a Georgian and two Greeks, including the captain.


Kemer, a resort lined with rocky beaches and luxury hotels is popular with tourists from Germany and Britain.


Police were searching the pine forests outside the city for survivors who may be in hiding.


The 400-ton cargo ship left the resort of Antalya on Sunday heading for Greece. Official records showed the ship carried no cargo or passengers.


Authorities were questioning the ship's Greek captain and two Turkish shipping agents. Port authorities said the captain set off despite warnings of a storm.


Newspapers said some of the immigrants boarded in Israel before the ship traveled to Cyprus to pick up more passengers. The bulk of the immigrants boarded from a bay close to Antalya.


Thousands of illegal immigrants from Asia and the Middle East pay smugglers to sneak them into Western Europe via Turkey each year. Turkish authorities detained some 14,000 would-be refugees last year, reports said.



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