223 illegal migrants caught in Turkey’s east

ERZİNCAN

Some 103 illegal migrants of Afghan and Pakistani origin have been caught in the eastern province of Erzincan, after the bus carrying them broke down, while another 120 illegal migrants were found in the eastern province of Ağrı, state-run Anadolu Agency reported on July 23. 

The incident in Erzincan occurred after a team from the provincial gendarmerie command went to see the bus following a denunciation that it was waiting by a roadside of Sakaltutan D-100 highway. 

The team then spotted on the bus a total of 103 people of Afghan and Pakistani origin who they determined as having entered Turkey illegally. They believe the bus driver fled the scene after the bus broke down. An investigation was then launched to identify the whereabouts of the bus driver. 

Additionally, another 120 illegal immigrants of Afghan, Bangladeshi, and Pakistani origin, were caught in the eastern province of Ağrı’s Eleşkirt district, the agency reported. 

The migrants were found on a bus near the Güvence village on the Ağrı-Erzurum highway. The migrants were reported to have told officials that after entering by illegal means into Turkey from Iran, the bus driver had left them on their own in the bus and then ran away. An investigation was launched to find the driver.