No bodies remain in ferry wreckage off Kyrenia, Ustel says

Kyrenia, Cyprus. No bodies remain inside the wreckage of the ferry that sank off Kyrenia last month, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Friday. Thirteen people remain unaccounted for 26 days after the sinking.

Search continues outside the wreck

Ustel said search teams had examined every square metre of the ferry, including every bag and seat, and found no further bodies inside. The body recovered last Saturday, the seventh retrieved and the fifteenth confirmed death, was reached under extremely difficult conditions, he said.

Searches have not ended, Ustel said. Teams continue to search by air, land and sea for bodies that may be underwater or on the surface. He said all available resources had been deployed, including capabilities used in search and rescue operations worldwide, and that authorities would explore further methods to locate the missing.

Black box recovered

Ustel said the ferry’s black box was recovered on Friday and handed to the Turkish Cypriot police for examination by the relevant authorities.

He also said authorities were monitoring the court case involving the ferry’s captain, Mustafa Oz, seven crew members and a director of its operating company, Filo Denizcilik. Anyone found negligent or at fault would be held accountable under the law, he said.