Search continues after Northern Cyprus ferry capsizes

Rescuers searched Monday for 18 people still missing after a ferry capsized off the coast of Northern Cyprus, killing eight people and leaving survivors describing a frantic struggle in the sea.

The privately operated ferry was carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members when it began taking on water shortly after leaving Kyrenia, also known as Girne, around midday Sunday for Tasucu in Turkey’s Mersin province. Local authorities said 241 people were rescued, eight died and 18 remained missing. Nineteen people were being treated in hospitals in Northern Cyprus, the BBC reported.

The captain, seven crew members and another man were arrested Monday, according to the BBC. Al Jazeera, citing the official state news agency of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, reported that the captain and eight others were brought before a judge and placed under formal arrest. Warrants have been issued for seven more people, the BBC reported.

The vessel has fully sunk and is lying on the seabed at a depth of more than 500 meters, officials said. The BBC reported the depth as 514 meters, or 1,686 feet. It was not clear whether anyone remained trapped inside. Authorities said they were trying to recover the ferry’s black box data recorder to help determine what caused the disaster. Divers from Turkey were assisting the search, officials said.

Ünal Üstel, prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, announced three days of national mourning. The TRNC is recognized only by Turkey.

The ferry had been scheduled to travel Saturday, but the trip was delayed because of poor weather, according to the BBC. Üstel told local media the boat was struck by two waves before it capsized. He said that while the captain was trying to recover from the first wave, a second wave hit and the vessel began taking on water.

Passengers gave accounts of the chaos as the boat overturned. Some said they heard an explosion at the front of the vessel, while others said there was not enough safety equipment, Al Jazeera reported. Video broadcast by Turkish television showed passengers in life jackets sitting on the orange hull of the capsized ferry.

“Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets,” survivor Efe Multici told CNN Turk. “It was literally a fight for survival.”

Serkan Kunduraci, who said he escaped by hauling himself through a broken window, told the DHA news agency that he saw children and others drowning about 7.5 kilometers, or 4 nautical miles, off the Cypriot coast. “I saw some who didn’t know how to swim die in the sea,” he said. “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 arrive and began pulling survivors from the water. “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 quoted him as saying.

Among the missing are the two children of Ayten Bicer: 12-year-old Miray and 6-year-old Mehmet Asaf. Bicer told local media she felt Miray slip from her hands as they clung to the overturned boat.

“She was saying, ‘Don’t let go’. And I didn’t let go of my daughter. I swear, I didn’t let her go,” Bicer said. She said a suitcase fell on her, forcing her daughter from her grip. She managed to grab the child’s foot, but engine oil on her shoes made her slip away.

Debris remained scattered across the water, including a black suitcase and a sheet of steel that appeared to have broken away from the ferry. The boat, identified by the BBC as a high-speed Filo Jet vessel about 40 meters long and 10 meters wide, sails under the Turkish flag, according to Marine Traffic. Its operator, Filo Denizcilik, said it was “deeply saddened by the tragic accident.”