Five drown as immigrant ship sinks off Turkey

Five people drowned and 35 others were rescued on Tuesday after a ship sank off Turkey's western coast.

Five people drowned and 35 others were rescued on Tuesday after a ship carrying illegal immigrants to Greece sank off Turkey's western coast,

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Anatolia

news agency reported.

The nationalities of the victims were not immediately known.

The ship sank off Karaburun, a resort town in the Aegean province of Izmir.

Turkey lies on a major human-smuggling route from Asia to Europe and illegal immigrants are detained on a daily basis.

The immigrants mostly try to cross to neighbouring Greece by land or brave sea journeys to Greece or Italy, often aboard dangerously unseaworthy vessels.