The “district court” in Kyrenia ordered nine suspects in the sinking of the Filo Jet to be held for another seven days on Friday. “Police” told the hearing that the ship’s watertight doors had been open before the voyage, when they should have been closed.
The passenger catamaran capsized and sank about four nautical miles off Kyrenia on August 30, on its way to Tasucu in Turkey with 267 people on board. Official figures reported in mid-September put the death toll at 14, with another 14 people missing.
The suspects are the operating company’s director in the occupied north, the captain, the second captain, two engineers and four other crew members. They are being held on suspicion of causing death by negligence.
A Turkish Cypriot chamber of mechanical engineers examined wreckage that washed ashore and concluded in a report that earlier repairs to damage on the ship had been inadequate. “Police” are still investigating warnings that the second engineer gave the chief engineer about past damage and repairs.
The ship’s voyage data recorder, or black box, which was found on September 25, has been sent to Turkey for expert examination, “police” said. Its recordings have been copied onto a USB drive, and the “authorities” will match the conversations to voice samples from the suspects.
A defence lawyer argued that the “coast guard” also bore responsibility because it carried out no rescue operation, Turkish Cypriot media reported. Its vessel had no thermal imaging equipment to find people in the water and no life jackets, ropes or lifeboats, he said, and no one from the “coast guard” boarded the sinking ship.
Only one person was rescued, by a rope lowered from a helicopter, the lawyer said. He argued that the late arrival of rescue teams was also a significant factor in the loss of life.
Outside the building, relatives of the victims and the missing shouted slogans at the suspects and demanded justice. Among them was Salim Hilaloglu, whose three-year-old daughter, the youngest victim, is still missing. Weeping and held up by other men, he shouted at the suspects: “Bring me my daughter!”
Hilaloglu was on board with his 35-year-old wife, Nurcan Hilaloglu, his five-year-old son and his daughter. His wife drowned and was found on the first day. His son was seriously injured and is still recovering in Turkey. Hilaloglu survived with injuries.
