Passenger ship capsizes off North Cyprus, search and rescue operations underway

(Central News Agency, Cyprus capital Nicosia, comprehensive foreign news report on the 30th) Reuters quoted Northern Cyprus media reports that a passenger ship with about 270 people on board capsized off the coast of Northern Cyprus today, and a search and rescue operation is currently underway.

Murat Senkul, the mayor of Kyrenia, a city controlled by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, told CNN Turk that 159 of the 258 passengers on board had been contacted.

Kibris newspaper reported that the passenger ship began to take on water about 6.4 kilometers from the coast, and an ambulance was dispatched to the scene. Several reports indicated that the vessel was a catamaran.