Three migrants die in minefield
Police in Thrace were trying over the weekend to establish the identities of three illegal immigrants who were killed late on Friday after blundering into a minefield while crossing into Greece from Turkey. The bodies of the three men, who lacked any identification papers, were recovered from the minefield near Kipi – one kilometer from the border and close to a major road crossing – by army mine experts and taken to the Alexandroupolis Hospital. An army statement said the minefield had a double wire fence which carried phosphorescent warning signs in Greek and English. Friday’s incident raised to 67 the number of illegal immigrants who have died in Evros minefields since 1997, when the international Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines was signed. Greece ratified the treaty in 2002. Meanwhile, on Saturday Turkish authorities in the Mediterranean port of Antalya said they had arrested 148 mostly Pakistani illegal immigrants who were about to board a smuggling boat for Greece.
