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Turkish firm caught selling fake life vests - they soak up water - for refugees at sea
In the chilly, rough waters of the Aegean, tricky under the best of circumstances and downright treacherous in a flimsy migrant boat, a life vest can make the difference between life and death. But for the unlucky refugees who would have bought roughly 1200 life vests being manufactured in Izmir, Turkey, that was a false promise. The vests were fake, according to Associated Press, citing Turkish reports. They were made of a material that becomes heavy when soaked and would have caused their wearers to sink. Turkish police raided the workshop in Izmir - a port city that is often a departure point for migrants hoping to make it to Europe - and found workers stuffing the jackets with packaging rather than buoyancy aids, according to the BBC.