Two migrants die while crossing Turkish-Greek border

Two illegal migrants died and one was injured while crossing a minefield near the north-eastern Greek Village of Kastanies at 9.20 p.m. Sunday night, on the Greek -Turkish border. One of the two men killed was a Mauritian national, the second who died could not be identified. The third man, who is believed to an Iraqi national, was rescued early Monday and is now being treated at a local hospital. Athens mined its borders with Turkey in 1974 following the northern Cyprus invasion. However, in September 2003 Athens and Ankara jointly ratified the Ottawa convention on anti-personnel mines. Greece said at the ratification that it would begin clearing the mines from its border with Turkey, starting September 2004. The Greek Military said that there are some 1.2 million mines in the area and that it will take up to 10 years to remove them all.Â