Nine in court after ferry sinking off Kyrenia kills eight

Kyrenia, Cyprus. Nine people appeared in court on Monday after being arrested in connection with the sinking of a passenger ferry off Kyrenia on Sunday, which killed eight people and left 18 others missing.

The ferry capsized shortly after departing Kyrenia’s new port en route to the Turkish port of Tasucu.

Court proceedings

The ferry’s captain, seven crew members and a shareholder in the operating company, Filo Denizcilik, appeared before the Turkish Cypriot Kyrenia district court.

Shortly after proceedings began, judge Hazal Hacimulla adjourned the hearing until 11.30pm. Arrest warrants had been issued for 16 people, and she ordered that the remaining seven be brought before the court before proceedings continued.

Ferry accident

The ferry was carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members when it capsized shortly after leaving Kyrenia’s new port at about 12.10pm on Sunday.

Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Sunday evening that every aspect of the incident would be investigated and that “even the slightest negligence will be uncovered”.

“It is both the duty and the responsibility of our state to fully investigate this great tragedy … Our grief is immense today, but our state, with all its institutions, is fulfilling its duty,” he said.

Ustel said authorities were focused on finding those still missing, addressing the consequences of the disaster and establishing the full circumstances of the incident.

Search operation and flight diversions

Search-and-rescue operations continued off the coast of Kyrenia on Monday morning, with boats and helicopters deployed in the area.

The helicopter activity north of Kyrenia prompted passenger flights departing the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport to reroute over the southern half of Nicosia rather than following their usual route north over Kyrenia towards Turkey.

Residents in the southern half of the capital were able to see and hear low-flying passenger aircraft on Sunday and Monday.