Ferry sank off the coast of Northern Cyprus: eight dead, more than 20 missing

Author, News Department

Place of work, BBC Russian Service

Published 30 August 2026, 14:57 GMT

Updated 11 minutes ago

Reading time: 3 min

Authorities in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are searching for more than 20 passengers on a sea ferry that sank shortly after leaving the port of Kyrenia for the Turkish city of Tasuca. According to the latest data, out of 267 passengers and crew members, 237 were rescued, eight people died.

The Filojet catamaran ferry, one of several operating daily sailings between Northern Cyprus and Turkey, developed a leak shortly after setting sail at half past twelve in the afternoon local time. As a result, after traveling only four nautical miles (6.5 km), the ship capsized.

Efe Multici, one of the rescued passengers, spoke to CNN Turk. “The ship was going very badly. It constantly rose out of the water and then fell down with force, shaking very violently. After three or four minutes, the ferry suddenly flew into the air and then crashed into the water. And then it cracked in front on the left side and water poured in,” he said.

Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus Unal Ustel said that the catamaran was hit by two strong waves. The captain tried to hold the ship after being hit by the first, but after being hit by the second, it began to leak.

Footage taken from helicopters showed people wearing life jackets and sitting on the small part of the hull that still remained above the water. CNN's interlocutor, however, said that some jumped into the water without vests.

A few hours later, but after the complete evacuation of everyone on the ship and those who were picked up at sea, the ferry completely sank. It is reported that the depth at the accident site is 514 meters.

Having received a distress signal, one of the passenger ships, four patrol boats of the border service of Northern Cyprus, five similar ships from Turkey and two helicopters rushed to the scene.

“We reached 237 people, but also recovered the bodies of seven dead. We are very saddened by this,” Northern Cyprus leader Tufan Erhuman said earlier. “We can’t get to 23 people yet.” Search and rescue teams are working intensively to find them. If these people are still inside the ship, it seems that getting to them will not be easy.”

The death toll later increased to eight. It also became known that the captain of the ship and seven crew members were taken into custody.

As Erhan Arikli, the minister of transport in the self-proclaimed republic, said in an interview with the Turkish television channel TRT, 161 people were taken to the hospital, another 76 did not require help.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said rescue efforts were ongoing.

“Immediately after the accident, we launched a large-scale search and rescue operation in cooperation with the authorities of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” he said.

A storm raged over Cyprus on Saturday. Authorities said the weather was suitable for sailing on Sunday. The Prime Minister of Cyprus said that the sank ferry was supposed to leave for Turkey on Saturday, but postponed the flight due to bad weather.

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