From correspondents in Ankara, Turkey, 07:31 PM IST

The bodies of 13 refugees, most of them Pakistanis, believed to have suffocated to death were found Wednesday morning near a village not far from Turkish city of Istanbul.

It appeared that they were travelling in the back of a lorry where they suffocated, the Dogan news agency reported.

Their bodies were then dumped in a field not far from the village of Kayabasi.

Police were investigating.

Turkey is a major transit point for refugees seeking to make their way into European Union countries.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)