The captain and crew of the ferry have been introduced earlier than a decide and positioned beneath formal arrest.
Revealed On 31 Aug 2026
The search is constant for 18 lacking individuals the day after eight individuals died when a ferry capsized off the coast of Northern Cyprus.
Early on Monday, the captain and eight others had been introduced earlier than a decide and positioned beneath formal arrest as three days of nationwide mourning started, in response to the official state information company of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
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The ferry bumped into bother about noon (09:00 GMT) on Sunday, shortly after leaving the northern port of Girne – also referred to as Kyrenia – heading for the Turkish port of Tasucu in Mersin province. It was one in every of a number of day by day sea shuttle hyperlinks with Turkiye.
A significant rescue operation started for the 267 passengers and crew on board, in response to native authorities. They mentioned 241 had been rescued, eight died and 18 had been listed as lacking. Their nationalities haven’t been printed.
It was not clear if individuals remained trapped on the vessel, which is mendacity on the seabed at a depth of greater than 500 metres (1,640 ft).
Passengers mentioned the boat had begun taking up water earlier than it capsized. Some survivors mentioned they heard an explosion on the entrance of the boat, others mentioned there was not sufficient security tools. Video from the scene broadcast by Turkish tv confirmed the capsized ferry with passengers carrying life jackets sitting on prime of its orange hull.
“Some individuals needed to leap with out lifebuoys or life jackets,” one younger man, Efe Multici, instructed CNN Turk. “It was actually a combat for survival.”
Serkan Kunduraci, who escaped the sinking ferry by hauling himself by means of a damaged window, mentioned he noticed kids and others drowning within the sea 7.5km (4 nautical miles) off the Cypriot coast.
“I noticed some who didn’t know find out how to swim die within the sea,” he instructed the DHA information company.
“We noticed and witnessed a household’s kids, girls and boys, very younger kids, drowning.”
Rescuer Muhammed Ozcelik, who runs a water sports activities firm, mentioned his boat was one of many first on the scene and started hauling survivors from the ocean.
“We tried to do greater than we might. Individuals had been saying, ‘Take me too, take me too,’ however the capability was full,” the Related Press company reported.
Recovering the vessel’s “black field” knowledge recorder would assist perceive what triggered the incident, authorities mentioned.
Divers from Turkiye had been aiding the search, officers mentioned.
Cyprus was break up in 1974 and Turkish Cypriots declared independence from Greek management in 1983. Solely Turkiye recognises the north, the place greater than 35,000 troops are stationed.
