The deadly Evros River borderland

The Evros River, which is the natural land border between Greece and Turkey, is one of the most notorious border crossings. Over the years, thousands of people have died there trying to cross into Europe.

To date this year, 29 people have been discovered dead at the Greek-Turkish border along the river. Due to the rising number of people that are found, the International Committee of the Red Cross has donated a fridge container for the dead. There are currently 15 bodies at the morgue. The most recent case was a 15-year-old boy.

The International Committee of the Red Cross donated one fridge container to the hospital of Alexandroupolis as the morgue did not have the capacity to keep the rising number of dead refugees who are discovered in the Evros region.

Hunters, fishermen or the authorities that patrol the area usually discover the bodies at the river. When someone is found, the police are the first to arrive in order to investigate the scene and take photos. The dead then are taken to the morgue where the coroner, Pavlos Pavlidis, looks for identification marks such as tattoos or other personal items, and takes DNA samples.

According to the coroner, Pavlos Pavlidis, the main cause of death among refugees who are discovered at the Greek-Turkish border is drowning. "70 percent of deaths are caused by drowning followed by hypothermia. Lately we have been noticing a rise of deaths as a result of road and train accidents," he told DW.

Coroner Pavlos Pavlidis keeps the personal items that belonged to refugees who have been found on the river's banks in plastic bags to help with the identification process.

It's a painstaking process to mark and bag the personal items of the dead refugees. "The items we come across most are objects that are not usually destroyed by water," Pavlidis said.

The most common personal items that are found on the bodies of refugees are jewelry such as rings, necklaces and generally metal objects. "Clothes and official documents such as passports are usually destroyed by the water," Pavlidis said.

Religious items, from various religions, are also very common discoveries on those who are found on the Evros River. Once someone is identified, their personal items are returned to their family.

If someone is identified, their body is returned to their family. If not, after a few months, Greek authorities arrange the buriel either at the Muslim cemetery in the village of Sidiro, or at the Christian cemetery of Orestiada. The gravestone above reads: "He remains — Our beloved whom we lost, Mustafa Rahwan — Aleppo Syria, 1983-2014."