Fishermen and coastguard officials pulled 24 bodies from the sea at the mouth of Istanbul's Bosphorus strait on Monday (November 3) and rescued seven people after a boat said to be carrying a group of migrants sank.<br/> <br />Seven coastguard vessels and a helicopter were continuing search operations in the Black Sea, some 3 miles (5 km) north of the Bosphorus, the coastguard said in a statement. Media reports said some 40 illegal migrants, including children, were believed to have been on the boat.<br/> <br />Shipping agents GAC said in a statement the boat had been heading for the Romanian port of Constanta when it sank around 5 am (0300 GMT) and was believed to be carrying around 50 refugees.<br/> <br />Many illegal migrants from Africa and the Middle East pass through Turkey to get into the European Union, often travelling in unsafe boats.<br/> <br />The Bosphorus strait is one of the world's busiest waterways, a vital route for Russian oil and other commodities as the only outlet to the world's ocea
