“I could hear my mother’s screams. She couldn’t get out. She was reaching out her hand, but I didn’t see anyone coming to help. My mother was screaming! My mother was lost as the ship sank.”
The testimonies of relatives of the victims of the deadly shipwreck off Kyrenia are deeply moving. Such as that of the son who saw a video of his mother pleading for help with her arms raised before she was swallowed by the sea. The body of Elmas Demir from Mersin was finally recovered yesterday from the wreckage of the shipwreck along with the body of a Turkish Cypriot, putting an end to her family’s agonizing wait.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“Find my mother, give us my mother, I want her body.”
The tragic death toll from the shipwreck off the coast of Kyrenia is rising, as two more bodies were recovered today from the ill-fated ship, bringing the total number of victims to 12, while another 16 people remain missing in the dark waters. The two bodies located today are those of women, and the process of identifying them has begun.
Read more: Heartbreaking images: Debris from the ill-fated catamaran washes ashore in the waters off Kyrenia
Searches on the seabed
Search operations using aerial and naval assets to locate the missing persons and recover the black box from the passenger ship are continuing for the sixth day under the coordination of the commanderof the Turkish Navy.
“A total of 7 ships, including the TCG Işın and TCG Alemdar, and 11 aircraft are operating in the area.”
So far, the remains of four people have been recovered from the wreck of the catamaran with the help of a remotely operated underwater vehicle and a sonar system. The equipment was deployed to a depth of 554 meters by the Turkish Navy’s deep-water rescue vessels Işın and Alemdar. Yesterday, operators of cameras transmitting real-time footage detected traces of the 16 missing people who were trapped on the ship’s lower deck. Efforts are now focused on that exact location.
“Because the search on the seabed is difficult and takes time, I shared this with the families.” Ünal Üstal, De facto Prime Minister
“The ship is sinking! Kids, stay calm, don’t cry!”
Harsh Accusations
Meanwhile, survivors rescued by fishermen continue to level harsh accusations against the ship’s captain for his criminal negligence.
“As soon as I boarded the ship, I looked down at my feet and saw water. So I asked the captain, ‘What’s that?’ The captain said, ‘Water is coming in from under the chair, from the bolts.’ I asked him, ‘Are you sure we’ll make it without sinking?’”
They describe the dramatic moments they experienced and their struggle for survival as they smashed the windows to get out of the ship before it was swallowed by the sea.
“I saw that it was filling with water and no one was helping. The doors were locked—they had been locked. When the noise started, the captain was the first to jump out and run away.”
Watch the report by Christoforos Nestoros
