ISTANBUL: Turkish rescue workers retrieved an inflatable sex doll from the Black Sea after police were notified by panicked residents who mistook it for a woman's body floating offshore, Milliyet newspaper reported on Sunday.

Police cordoned off a wide stretch of beach in northern Samsun province and sent a team of divers into the water to rescue what appeared to be a drowning woman, it said.

The team quickly discovered it was in fact a blow-up doll, which they deflated before throwing in the garbage, the daily said.

It was not clear where the blow-up doll had came from. The Black Sea is a key tourism destination for Turks and also sees busy international maritime shipping traffic.