The names of eight people killed and 20 still missing were released on Monday afternoon, nearly 23 hours after the catamaran Filo Jet sank four nautical miles off Kyrenia. Of the 28 people involved, two are described as “citizens” of the unrecognised “state” “trnc”, with the remaining 26 identified as citizens of Turkey.
Among the dead are Nurcan Hilaloglu, whose daughter, Ani Azel, is among the missing, along with Nihan Balyemez, Huseyin Ozdemir, Nuray Zeytun, Fahri Ates, Gulcan Gurel, Reyhan Verim and Nisa Torer.
Also listed as missing are siblings Saliha Bicer, aged 12, and Mehmet Bicer, aged 6, whose mother has appeared in numerous videos on media and social media searching desperately for her children, saying she had been holding her daughter’s hand when she lost her grip. Ferdi Torer, a relative of Nisa Torer, is also missing, along with relatives Mustafa, Mahmut and Elmas Demir. Serif Ozdemir, wife of victim Huseyin Ozdemir, is missing, as is the couple Yula and Ayhan Ozcan. The remaining missing are named as Ozgur Gonul, Orhan Beket, Nazmiye Ozbolat, Elif Bayir, Nihat Pancar, Mustafa Kemal Yarali, Mehmet Bayhan, Mehmet Nuri Ayran, and Turkish Cypriots Suleyman Erdogan and Ismail Kurt.
Search and arrests continue
The self-styled “prime minister,” Unal Ustel, said in a written statement that search and rescue operations were continuing, now focused on locating the 20 people still missing, while “police” investigations into the circumstances of the disaster were also ongoing.
Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman visited the crisis management centre on Monday, where he spoke with relatives of passengers and made statements to the media. He said search operations had continued without interruption through Monday, as they had the previous day, and announced that a ship from Turkey capable of searching to a depth of 1,000 metres would arrive on Tuesday.
Erhurman said an investigation into responsibility for the disaster was also under way, with nine people arrested so far. Given the numerous complaints received, he said, the investigation would be conducted transparently. “What happened this time must now become a turning point from an administrative standpoint,” he said, adding that those responsible would be held accountable and that the incident would not be forgotten. He said authorities had made contact with the families of all eight confirmed victims.
Mother’s desperate plea
Relatives of victims and missing people gathered at Kyrenia port throughout the day. As Kamu-İş union president Ahmet Serdaroglu spoke to reporters at the port at midday, the mother of the missing 12-year-old and 6-year-old approached him and pleaded tearfully for help. “My son is six years old, weighs 20 kilos, he can’t defend himself,” she said, adding that her daughter’s face was constantly on her mind.
Serdaroglu criticised the fact that the names of victims had not yet been released at that point.
Injured taken to hospital
Earlier, the Turkish Cypriot “news agency” had reported that 19 people were being treated in hospital, with ten at the “general hospital” in occupied Nicosia and the rest at other “public” and private medical facilities.
(information from CNA)
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