Fifteenth body recovered from Kyrenia ferry wreckage identified

Kyrenia, Cyprus. The fifteenth body recovered from the wreckage of a ferry that capsized off Kyrenia last month has been identified as Mehmet Bayhan, Turkish Cypriot leader Unal Ustel said on Monday. Thirteen people remain missing.

Recovery and identification

Ustel said all relevant institutions had worked “with great sensitivity and determination” since the accident to locate missing people, complete identification procedures as quickly as possible and end the uncertainty facing families.

Bayhan’s younger brother, Ahmet, had been among relatives waiting outside Kyrenia’s new port for information about missing loved ones. Two days after the accident, he accused authorities of responsibility for his brother’s death.

“This is not negligence, it is murder. My brother did not die, he was killed. He did not drown, you drowned him,” he shouted towards the Turkish Cypriot security forces building next to the port.

The recovery of Bayhan’s body was the first from the wreckage in almost two weeks. The fourteenth body had been recovered on September 6.

Search operation

Bayhan’s body was the first recovered after the deep-sea research and survey ship Optimus Prime arrived in waters off Kyrenia on Monday.

The vessel was commissioned by the Turkish government and Turkish Cypriot authorities to support the Turkish naval ships TCG Isin and TCG Alemdar, which have been operating off Kyrenia since the beginning of the month.

Ustel said on September 6 that search-and-rescue conditions, particularly underwater and inside the sunken vessel, were becoming increasingly difficult.

Turkish Cypriot transport minister Faiz Sucuoglu said the Optimus Prime had different capabilities from the two naval vessels and described the disaster as one of the greatest tragedies Cyprus had experienced since 1974.

Ferry disaster investigation

The ferry capsized shortly after departing Kyrenia’s new port for the Turkish port of Tasucu shortly after midday on August 30. There were 259 passengers and eight crew members on board.

All eight crew members, including captain Mustafa Oz, were arrested on the day of the disaster. They remain in custody along with a director of the ferry operator, Filo Denizcilik.