Eight people are dead and 18 remain missing after a ferry capsized off the coast of Northern Cyprus on Sunday, with rescuers continuing to search the seabed more than a day after the vessel went down.
The ferry ran into trouble around midday local time shortly after leaving the northern port of Girne, also known as Kyrenia, on a routine route to the Turkish port of Tasucu in Mersin province. The vessel was one of several daily sea shuttle links between Northern Cyprus and Turkey. A major rescue operation launched for the 267 passengers and crew on board. Authorities said 241 people were rescued, eight died, and 18 were listed as missing. Their nationalities have not been published.
By Monday morning, the captain and eight others had been brought before a judge and placed under formal arrest, according to the official state news agency of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Three days of national mourning began the same day.
Passengers described the boat taking on water before it capsized. Accounts from survivors differed on the cause. Some said they heard an explosion at the front of the vessel. Others said there was not enough safety equipment on board. Video broadcast by Turkish television showed the capsized ferry with passengers wearing life jackets sitting on top of its orange hull.
Efe Multici, a young man who survived the disaster, told CNN Turk: "Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets. It was literally a fight for survival."
Serkan Kunduraci, who escaped by hauling himself through a broken window, described what he saw in the water. "I saw some who didn't know how to swim die in the sea," he told the DHA news agency. "We saw and witnessed a family's children, boys and girls, very young children, drowning."
Rescuer Muhammed Ozcelik, who runs a water sports company, said his boat was among the first to reach the scene. "We tried to do more than we could. People were saying, 'Take me too, take me too,' but the capacity was full," the Associated Press reported.
The vessel is lying on the seabed at a depth of more than 500 metres. It was not clear whether anyone remained trapped inside. Divers from Turkey were assisting the search operation. Authorities said recovering the vessel's black box data recorder would help determine the cause of the capsizing.
The ferry went down approximately 7.5 kilometres off the Cypriot coast. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces intervened following a coup. Turkish Cypriots declared independence from Greek Cypriot control in 1983. Only Turkey recognizes the TRNC as a separate state.
