Funeral held in Turkey for 12-year-old girl who died in ferry sinking off Kyrenia

Reyhanli, Turkey. A funeral was held on Friday for 12-year-old Miray Bicer, who died when the ferry she was travelling on sank off the coast of Kyrenia in August. She was buried beside her five-year-old brother Asaf Bicer, who died in the same accident and was buried on September 30.

Family and officials attend funeral

The service in Reyhanli was attended by her mother, Ayten Bicer, her father, Hayri Bicer, and other family members. Reyhanli district governor Muharrem Coskun, mayor Ahmet Salman Yumusak and other dignitaries also attended.

Parents recount the sinking

The day after the ferry sank, Ayten Bicer recounted how her daughter had pleaded with her, saying, “Don’t let go.”

“I swear, I didn’t let her go,” she said, with tears streaming down her face. She explained that a suitcase fell on top of her, forcing her daughter from her grasp.

She said she then grabbed her daughter’s foot, but the girl’s shoes, coated in engine oil from the overturned boat, slipped through her hands.

Hayri Bicer said everything happened suddenly on the day of the accident.

“We couldn’t intervene. We lost our children. We made a lot of effort, but we couldn’t save our children. Two of my children are gone. One of my sons is alive. Two of my children are gone. Two of my three children are gone. We left them. We are leaving them on this island as we go,” he said.

Ayten Bicer later said that “it was slipping like oil” and that “there was diesel, our feet were slippery”.

“It was slippery everywhere. It was like oil. She slipped out of my hand. Mehmet Asaf held on to his father here,” she said, showing the collar of her T-shirt. He was “saying, ‘Baba’”, she added.