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Rescuers have recovered the bodies of two women off the coast of northern Cyprus, bringing the death toll from last week’s ferry accident to 12, officials said.
A FiloJet ferry was sailing from Kyrenia in Cyprus to Taşucu in Turkey on 30 August when it began taking on water around 6 km off the Cypriot coast before capsizing.
The vessel had 259 passengers and eight crew members on board when it went down, sparking a large-scale search and rescue operation.
In a post on X on Friday, Ünal Üstel, the prime minister of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, said the Turkish naval ships TCG Işın and TCG Alemdar had recovered the women’s bodies during deep water searches, adding that 16 people were still missing.
“In order to locate the 16 people still missing, our search operations are continuing nonstop, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the strong support of the Republic of Turkey and the participation of all relevant units,” he wrote.
Emergency crews had managed to rescue 239 of those on board the ship as it sank.
The captain of the vessel and several others have reportedly since been arrested on charges of negligent homicide.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Defence, seven ships and six aircraft are supporting search operations for missing passengers by “scanning the coastline, the seabed, and the area around the sunken vessel.”
“While the TCG Işın located the wreck at a depth of 550 meters, a dive was also conducted to the wreck using the ROV (remotely operated vehicle) operated by the TCG Alemdar, which is capable of operating at depths of up to 3,000 meters,” the ministry said in a statement posted to social media.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek-backed military coup led to an invasion by Turkish forces and the division of the island.