At least eight people have died after a ferry carrying nearly 270 passengers and crew capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus on Sunday, Turkish media reported. Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister, Unal Ustel, told Turkish state broadcaster TRT that 237 people had been rescued, while a search was under way for 22 others.
Ustel said the ferry encountered adverse weather shortly after leaving port and began taking on water about 15 minutes into the journey. A distress call was issued soon afterwards, he said. Eight people, including the ferry’s captain, were detained as part of an investigation into the sinking, according to Ustel.
But Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman said weather conditions “were not bad” and urged people not to speculate about the cause of the disaster. He said the vessel sank in waters about 500 metres (1,640 feet) deep, making the search and rescue operation more difficult.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his condolences and said his government was coordinating with the Turkish Cypriot authorities on the rescue effort. “We hope we’ll be receiving positive news,” Erdogan said in Ankara on Sunday during a graduation ceremony at the Turkish Military Academy.
The catamaran-style ferry was travelling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne, to Tasucu in Turkey’s Mersin province. Kyrenia Mayor Murat Senkul said the vessel was operated by Filo Denizcilik and sank off Diana beach on Cyprus’s northern coast. TRT reported that the ferry began taking on water about 7.5 kilometres (4 nautical miles) from the coast.
Video footage from the scene showed people in life jackets floating in the water around the capsized vessel. The disaster comes against the backdrop of Cyprus’s long-running political division. The island was split along ethnic lines in 1974, when Turkey invaded days after an Athens junta-backed coup by supporters of union with Greece.