Eighteenth body recovered near ferry wreck off Kyrenia

Kyrenia, Cyprus. An eighteenth body has been recovered from the sea around a ferry that sank off the coast of Kyrenia last month, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Tuesday evening. The body will be taken for DNA analysis to establish its identity.

Two victims identified

Ustel said two bodies recovered on Monday had been identified as Nihat Pancar and five-year-old Mehmet Asaf Bicer. Mehmet’s sister, 12-year-old Miray Bicer, remains unaccounted for. Their parents, Ayten Bicer and Hayri Bicer, survived.

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Parents describe the sinking

The day after the ferry sank, Ayten Bicer said Miray had pleaded, “don’t let go”, and that she had held on to her daughter until a suitcase fell on her. She said she then grabbed Miray’s foot, but her daughter’s shoe, coated in engine oil from the overturned boat, slipped through her hands. Ayten later said there was diesel and their feet were slippery.

Hayri Bicer said the accident happened suddenly and they could not save the children despite their efforts. He said two of their three children were gone, one son was alive, and the family would be leaving the two children on the island when they departed.