The captain of a ferry that overturned off northern Cyprus, killing at least eight people, appeared in court as emergency teams continued searching for 20 passengers still unaccounted for, officials said.
The vessel, carrying 267 people, capsized yesterday roughly four nautical miles from the port of Kyrenia on the northern coast of the divided island, shortly after setting sail.
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Rescuers in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognised only by Ankara, brought 239 people ashore. Eight people died, while the search for 20 others remained under way, Prime Minister Unal Ustal said.
Authorities had not immediately released the nationalities of those killed or missing.
Nine people appeared before a court in Kyrenia, or Girne in Turkish, and were charged with negligent homicide, the official TAK news agency reported. The proceedings came as Northern Cyprus began three days of mourning.
The captain and crew told the court that powerful waves smashed open the front of the vessel, Turkey’s Anadolu state news agency said.
Watch: Search teams continue looking for passengers missing off northern Cyprus
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TRNC President Tufan Erhurman said divers were working to recover data from the vessel’s so-called “black box”, which could help establish how the disaster unfolded.
“Divers were deployed today… and this effort will continue tomorrow as well,” he said, promising “to get to the bottom of every aspect”.
He added that the ferry company “will certainly be held accountable”.
“Definitive information will likely be provided tomorrow in the form of confirmed data,” he said.
Khassim Diagne, the UN Secretary-General’s representative in Cyprus, said he was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life” and offered his sincere condolences to the affected families.
‘Fight for survival’
Survivors of the ferry, reportedly a French-made Filo-Jet catamaran, said they heard a noise resembling an explosion moments before the vessel overturned.
Passengers described water rushing into the boat and said the captain attempted to turn back towards port before it capsized.
Turkish television footage showed the overturned ferry with passengers in life jackets gathered on top of its orange hull.
The vessel sank soon afterwards and now rests at a depth of 514 metres, TRNC Transport Minister Erhan Arikli said.
Some survivors also said the ferry did not carry enough safety equipment for everyone aboard.
“Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets,” a young passenger, Efe Multici, told CNN Turk.
“It was literally a fight for survival.”
Turkey deployed six naval vessels and two drones, among other resources, to support the rescue operation yesterday. Private boats in the area also joined the search.
Cyprus has remained divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the island’s northern third after an Athens-backed Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.
The island is now divided between the TRNC, which declared independence in 1983 but is recognised only by Ankara, and the European Union member Republic of Cyprus in the south.
The TRNC maintains regular air and sea connections with Turkey.
