Search continues for 18 missing passengers after ferry capsizes off northern Cyprus
Eight people died and 19 were hospitalized when a ferry sank after departing Kyrenia, prompting a search for 18 missing passengers and arrests of crew members.
Rescuers are still searching for 18 passengers after a privately owned ferry capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus on Sunday. The vessel, which had left the resort town of Kyrenia around 12:30 local time bound for Tasucu in Turkey, began taking on water when a second wave struck while the captain was attempting to recover from an earlier wave. The ship sank to a depth of about 514 metres, leaving debris such as a suitcase and a sheet of steel scattered on the surface.
Authorities reported that eight people were confirmed dead and 19 were receiving treatment in hospitals in the Turkish-controlled north. The ferry was carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members. The captain, seven crew members and another individual were arrested on Monday, and warrants were issued for seven additional people.
Ünal Üstel, prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared a three-day period of national mourning.
"She was saying, 'Don't let go'. And I didn't let go of my daughter. I swear, I didn't let her go," a mother recounted to local media, describing how a suitcase that fell onto her forced her daughter to slip from her grip as the vessel overturned.