Thirteen of the 19 injured survivors rescued from the passenger ferry that capsized off Kyrenia have been discharged from hospital today.
According to Turkish Cypriot media, 10 of the 14 people being treated at the hospital in occupied Nicosia have been discharged. Two people were also discharged from the university hospital, along with one more from the hospital in occupied Kyrenia.
Efforts to locate and recover the black box from the Filo Jet are ongoing, as authorities try to establish the exact causes of the deadly shipwreck off Kyrenia. The ferry sank to a depth of around 514 metres, significantly complicating data recovery operations.
The captain and seven others have been placed in custody as part of the investigation into the circumstances of the sinking. “Prime Minister” Unal Ustel has said the ship capsized after being struck successively by two large waves, with the captain trying to right the vessel after the first wave before a second wave hit and caused water to flood in.
Turkish-Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman earlier said he hoped to be able to announce updates today regarding those still missing. He also stressed that the operation would proceed very slowly and carefully. “We hope that today, at some point, we’ll be able to update you. If we don’t reach the results we want today, that doesn’t mean we’ll give up the effort. Tomorrow, operations will continue with the help of the second ship,” he said.
