This screen grab image taken from UGC handout video courtesy of DHA on August 30, 2026, shows passengers waiting to be rescued at sea following the sinking of the ferry they were traveling on after it left the port of Kyrenia in the north of Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Photo by DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP
Istanbul: Rescuers were on Monday still hunting for survivors a day after a ferry capsized off Northern Cyprus, leaving eight dead and more than a dozen missing, authorities said.
The ferry left the northern port of Girne around midday (0900 GMT) on Sunday en route for the Turkish mainland but capsized shortly afterwards, sparking a major rescue operation, the local authorities said.
There were 267 on board at the time.
Of that number, 241 people were rescued, eight died and another 18 were listed as missing, they said. There was no immediate word on their nationalities.
Several survivors told local media they heard a blast shortly before the vessel rolled, with police detaining the captain and more than a dozen others.
Early on Monday, the captain and eight others were brought before a judge where they were placed under formal arrest as Northern Cyprus began three days of national mourning, the official Cypriot news agency TAK said.
Passengers said the boat had begun taking on water before it capsized about four nautical miles into the journey.
Footage from the scene broadcast by Turkish television showed the capsized ferry with passengers wearing life jackets sitting atop its orange hull.
Shortly afterwards, the ferry totally sank and is currently lying at a depth of 514 metres (1,686 feet), the TRNC's transport minister Erhan Arikli said.
Recovering the vessel's "black box" would help understand what caused the tragedy, he added.
Some survivors said they heard an explosion at the front of the boat, with others saying there wasn't enough safety equipment.
"Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets," one young man, Efe Multici, told CNN Turk. "It was literally a fight for survival."
