Six Dead After Ferry Carrying Nearly 270 Capsizes off Northern Cyprus

Reuters

Survivors arrive onshore after being rescued from the capsized boat off Kyrenia, northern Cyprus.

At least six people have died after a ferry carrying nearly 270 passengers and crew capsized off the coast of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus, local media reported.

Some 237 people have been rescued, with a search still underway for 24, the region’s prime minister, Ünal Üstel, told the state-run TRT news channel on Sunday.

The privately operated vessel departed from the North Cyprus port of Kyrenia at 12:30pm local time (0930 GMT) and began taking on water shortly afterwards for reasons that remain unclear, Anadolu reported.

Kyrenia’s mayor, Murat Şenkul, said the ferry belonged to the Filo Denizcilik company and had sunk off Diana beach. It started taking in water about 7.5km (4 nautical miles) off the coast, TRT reported.

The Turkish ambassador to Nicosia, Ali Murat Basceri, said there were some casualties but did not specify how many, speaking to TRT.

Many of the 259 passengers and eight crew members were rescued, Basceri said, adding that some were taken to hospital.

The boat was bound for the Turkish port of Taşucu in Mersin province, on the eastern Mediterranean coast.

Arıklı said those rescued from the vessel were taken to Kyrenia port before being transferred to hospitals for medical treatment.

The Kıbrıs newspaper reported that the vessel, described in some reports as a catamaran, began taking on water approximately four miles (6.4 kilometres) from the coast.



PUKMEDIA