low graphics version | feedback | help
|
 The BBC's Martha Dixon"Passengers gave different accounts of where they thought they would end up"  real 56k |
The immigrants - mostly believed to be from the Middle East and Asia - were found when the Turkish-registered vessel was boarded.
Turkish coastguards, acting on a tip, blocked the Lale-1 and forced it to anchor near Istanbul.
The passengers were believed to have boarded the ship, registered in Turkey, further east on Friday night.
"The immigrants were stuffed in the ship's cargo hold. There are children and women among them," a coastguard official, Adem Karagoz, was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
 Women and children were on board |
Reports said the crew had prepared false nameplates for the ship to be fixed over the vessel's real name to deceive port authorities.
Turkey is a major route for illegal immigrants trying to get to western Europe, and intercepts thousands every year.
On New Year's Day this year, more than 50 illegal immigrants died when the Georgian-registered ship in which they were travelling sank off the coast of Turkey.
| Search BBC News Online | |
|  Advanced search options | |
| |
 | |
 | |
| |
 | BBC RADIO NEWS |
| |
| |
| BBC ONE TV NEWS |
| |
| |
| WORLD NEWS SUMMARY |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| PROGRAMMES GUIDE |
 | ||
 | ||
 Overview | ||
Case studies: | ||
Around the world | ||
| ||
|
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
E-mail this story to a friend
