(AA Photo)
The body of another passenger has been recovered during search efforts for those missing after a passenger ship sank off the coast of Kyrenia in Turkish Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot Prime Ministry said on Oct. 7.
In a statement, the prime ministry said another body was recovered as part of ongoing search and rescue operations.
Authorities have begun the necessary procedures to identify the victim.
The death toll has risen to 25, while search efforts continue for three people who remain missing.
The high-speed passenger ship Filo Jet, which operated between Kyrenia Port in Turkish Cyprus and Tasucu Port in Mersin in Türkiye’s south began taking on water from its bow shortly after departing Kyrenia around midday on Aug. 30.
The vessel sank as it attempted to return to Kyrenia Port.
On Sept. 25, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said rescuers had found the ferry’s voyage data recorder (VDR), its “black box,” which had been handed to the police for examination, with its data expected to give a clearer indication of what caused the tragedy.
Within hours of the tragedy, police arrested nine people on suspicion of death through negligence, among them ferry captain Mustafa Öz, seven crew members and a director of Filo Denizcilik.
All nine were back in court in Kyrenia on Oct. 2 for a hearing at which their remand in custody was extended for another seven days. At the hearing, police told the court the VDR had been handed to the Turkish authorities on Sept. 30.
