Captain of migrant death-ship arrested

Rescuers are still combing shores for survivors

The captain of a ship that sank off the coast of Turkey on Monday, killing a party of illegal migrants, has been arrested

More than 50 migrants hoping to be smuggled into western Europe are thought to have died when the ship ran onto rocks and broke in two.

Only 10 bodies were recovered after the Georgian registered vessel Pati hit rocks near the Turkish resort town of Kemer in heavy seas.

Three crew members were also arrested in the southern resort of Antalya.

The migrants are believed to have paid thousands of dollars to be smuggled into the European Union.

The ship's captain is among those arrested

Some 33 people were saved but initial rescue efforts were hampered by cold seas and high winds. Rescue teams are continuing to search the shoreline but have found no sign that anyone else managed to survive.

The captain of the ship has rejected the charges against him, which include endangering life and property and causing death at sea.

Two other Albanians have been released pending trial, according to the Anatolia news agency.

The ship's assistant skipper is reported to have confessed to picking up 16 immigrants from Israel and 58 other people from a bay near Antalya.

Local prosecutor Yusuf Hakki Dogan said a Turkish man has been detained on suspicion of being a member of an international human-trafficking ring involved in the incident.

He added that police were also looking for three others.

Managers of the Turkish company, which insured the vessel, were also detained and being interrogated.

Light sentences

Most of the migrants are reported to have come from Afghanistan and Pakistan, though survivors say Bangladeshis and Moroccans were also on board.

Most migrant smugglers receive only very light sentences from Turkish courts, although legal reforms currently under consideration would make the penalties much tougher.

If the crew members are found guilty of causing a number of deaths, they, too, could expect a fairly long prison sentence. Migrants who survived will soon be deported.