ISTANBUL — Survivors of a ferry disaster off the coast of northern Cyprus that killed at least eight people described on Monday the moments of terror as they scrambled to escape the sinking vessel.
The passengers spoke as rescue teams searched for 20 people missing since the ship carrying 267 passengers and crew capsized after leaving Kyrenia, a port in breakaway northern Cyprus, for Tasucu in Turkey on Sunday afternoon. Authorities had earlier said 18 were missing.
Among those unaccounted for were a 12-year-old girl and her brother, 6. “My daughter slipped from my grasp. She was holding my hand. The suitcase fell, she slipped from my hand,” their mother, Ayten Bicer, 35, told Turkey's DHA news agency.
Serkan Kunduraci, who escaped the sinking ferry by hauling himself through a broken window, said he saw children and others drowning in the sea some 7.5 kilometers (4.6 miles) off the Cypriot coast.
“I saw some who didn’t know how to swim die in the sea,” he told DHA. “There were those who, in a panic, didn’t grab life jackets. Some jumped (into the sea) immediately out of fear. There was an old man, we couldn’t get him. We tried to pull him up, but we couldn’t. He drowned, too.
“We saw and witnessed a family’s children, boys and girls, very young children, drowning.”
Panic and confusion as the ship began listing
Survivors told how the ship, the Filo Jet, began listing and taking on water after they heard a number of loud noises from below decks.
“The crew came, took a look and told us there wasn’t a major problem, just a loose gasket causing a leak,” Kunduraci said.
When the order to evacuate came, he added, people were already panicking. He said the ship began tilting as the captain apparently made an effort to return to Kyrenia, known as Girne in Turkish.
“There was so much screaming and so many people were trapped behind — they had been left in the rear,” Kunduraci said. “They couldn’t get out. There were bodies and people piled on top of them. Those trapped underneath were the unlucky ones, they stayed down there.”
Deniz Ozpolat also recalled the sense of panic onboard the ferry, which was owned by Filo Denizcilik.
“We headed toward the exit. A crush of people had already formed. We couldn’t find the life jackets. They shut the doors on us and we couldn’t get out,” he told DHA.
“They opened them later. We jumped into the water. The ship began to sink after listing to the side. We broke the windows and rescued people. There was a family out in the open water, there were children.”
Rescue boats filled to capacity
Rescuer Muhammed Ozcelik, who runs a water sports company, said his boat was one of the first on the scene and began hauling people from the sea.
“We tried to do more than we could. People were saying, ‘Take me too, take me too,’ but the capacity was full. We even took far more than (our capacity) … People were fighting for their lives.”
Images in the Turkish media showed passengers in orange life vests standing on the upturned ferry as they waited for rescue. Many were later shown disembarking small pleasure boats at a port.
The ferry’s eight crew and a Filo Denizcilik company director appeared in a northern Cypriot court to face charges of causing death through negligence and carelessness Monday, the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris reported. They were detained for a further three days.
Unal Ustel, the prime minister of northern Cyprus, said late Sunday that "even the slightest negligence will be uncovered. Whoever is found to be at fault or responsible will not be spared.”
On Monday, he identified all the dead and missing. The port authorities who authorized the Filo Jet's voyage had been dismissed, Ustel added, as the Transport Ministry said all Filo Denizcilik operations had been suspended.
The Turkish coast guard and military were assisting rescue teams from north Cyprus, Ustel added, describing the incident as the worst maritime disaster in Cypriot history.
Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot Transport Minister Erhan Arikli said in a statement that the ferry had been sailing at 60% capacity and there were enough life vests for all passengers.
An inspection of the submerged ferry was hampered by the sea depth of 500 meters (1,640 feet), he added, but a remotely operated submarine would be used to search for bodies. It is expected to arrive at the site from Turkey on Tuesday.
Cyprus was split along ethnic lines in 1974, and Turkish Cypriots declared independence in 1983. Only Turkey recognizes the north, where it maintains more than 35,000 troops.
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