Shipwreck victim Akbaş: The captain increased his speed, no information was given

Speaking to NTV, Akbaş stated that he did not want to see the sea and said, "Those children come to my mind. I think of people lying lifeless on the water. I live in a place like Mersin, but I do not want to go to the beach." he said.

Stating that he thought the ship's employees were not trained, Akbaş said, "As soon as they threw the life rafts, they broke the ropes and no one could get on the life rafts. They took the wave from us and took them away." he said.

Adding that the authorities had to first put people on board and then cut the ropes, Akbaş said, "He took the lifeboats 1.5 kilometers away. That's why there was a lot of loss of life." he said.

Akbaş described the moment of the accident as follows:

"As we asked to go back, the captain gradually increased his speed. Depending on the speed, the waves started to affect us very badly. One of them, the engineer Zeki Öz, entered the captain's room. While leaving the room, he went towards the exit gate and started shouting, 'Run back, the ship is sinking'. We were not given any information. No announcement or information was given about what we should do."

Akbaş also stated that he thought 80 percent of the passengers on the ship did not know how to swim.