Six students drowned at sea in Turkey's south
Hurriyet.com.tr
AA photo
Six students were drowned when a group of teenagers went for a swim in the İskenderun district of Hatay province in Turkey's south today.Nineteen Quran course students were returning from a field trip from the southeastern Şanlıurfa province when the bus they were traveling in made a stop at the coastal Karaağaç town near İskenderun.
The students, between the ages 14-17, and the bus driver went for a swim in the sea despite warnings from the employees of a nearby restaurant, who told them the waves were too high and that they could be drowned if they went in. The group soon drifted into a current at sea as they struggled to swim through the waves. Restaurant workers and locals rushed to assist as the students started screaming for help.
Locals managed to pull 13 students and the bus driver out of the water, but six students were lost. It is claimed that some of the students did not know how to swim.
The coast guard later found the bodies of students Eyüp Can Seher, Mustafa Kul, Mehmet Bilgin, Ramazan Duran Güven, İzzet Zorba and Ömer Faruk Kurter.