At least seven died as a ferry carrying 270 passengers and crew capsized off the coast of North Cyprus on Sunday even as the rescue operations are underway.
So far more than 172 people have been rescued, the Northern Cyprus Prime Minister Onal Ustel told Turkish media.
The catamaran-style ferry was traveling from the port of Kyrenia, also known as Girne in the breakaway north of the ethnically divided Cyprus, to the Turkish port of Tasucu in Mersin province, according to sources.
The capsized ferry completely sunk, the officials quoted by a news agency said. According to the local newspaper, the ferry started taking in water at about four miles off the shore.
“All necessary preparations are being made for a swift response from rescue and health services,” the health ministry of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which governs the northern third of the divided island of Cyprus, said in a statement.
In a media interaction, Northern Surface Transport Minister Arjun Eringly said that the ship had overturned and rescue crews were already on the scene.
The rescued people were brought to Kyrenia, he said, adding that we do not know what caused the vessel to take on water.
So far it is not known which company, company’s ferry was operating between Tyrrhenia and Tunisia. Which is under social media, so people with life vests floating in the waters after the capsize.
In a similar incident, a boat carrying migrants also capsized in the southern coast of Tunisia, killing at least two people and leaving twelve missing.
The Tunisia’s National Guard said one survivor was rescued.