Two more bodies found near Kyrenia ferry wreckage, bringing confirmed deaths to 17

Kyrenia, Cyprus. Two more bodies have been found near the wreckage of a ferry that sank off Kyrenia last month, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Monday. The discovery brings the confirmed death toll to 17, with 11 people still unaccounted for.

Search and identification

Ustel said the bodies were found about a kilometre from the wreckage. DNA analyses have begun to identify them and determine whether they are among the missing passengers, he said. Their families will be informed once the results are available.

Seabed searches around the wreckage are continuing, Ustel said, adding that the Turkish Cypriot authorities would continue looking for those still missing.

Investigation and court proceedings

The ferry capsized shortly after leaving Kyrenia’s new port for the Turkish port of Tasucu a little after midday on August 30. It was carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members.

Nine people were arrested shortly after the sinking: the ferry’s captain, Mustafa Oz; seven crew members; and a director of its operating company, Filo Denizcilik. All nine remain in custody, and court proceedings are ongoing.

At their most recent court appearance last Friday, the court heard that the Turkish Cypriot authorities had not been informed of a crack that appeared on the ferry’s left side on June 17, although Oz and Filo Denizcilik were obliged to report it.

The court had previously heard that Oz bought his Honduran captain’s licence for $3,500. A police representative said Oz had told investigators that he initially obtained a licence in Turkey, but that it became invalid after he did not work as a boat captain for 10 years.

The Cyprus Mail has contacted Honduras’ directorate-general of merchant maritime to seek verification of the licence’s authenticity.