The death toll from the capsized Filo Jet passenger vessel off the coast of Kyrenia rose to nine yesterday after Turkish rescue crews recovered another body from the wreck site, bringing the list of missing persons down to 19.
Speaking to reporters and relatives outside the Kyrenia port yesterday evening, Turkish Cypriot coalition leader Ünal Üstel said the body of a man believed to be about 50 years old was recovered during operations involving the Turkish rescue vessels TCG Işın and TCG Alemdar. The remains were transferred to Nicosia for identification. Search efforts would continue around the clock, he said.
"We had 20 missing people and the body of one of them has been found," Üstel said after visiting one of the two search-and-rescue vessels. "Our only aim is to find those who are missing, stand by the families and uncover the full truth of this tragedy."
The wreck lies at a depth of around 550 metres, complicating both the search and the investigation. Turkish authorities have deployed specialised vessels, including the Işın, equipped with a remotely operated vehicle capable of descending to depths of 1,000 metres and carrying out underwater inspections and recovery operations.
Pressure on Arıklı leads to dismissal
Üstel also announced the dismissal of Turkish Cypriot ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arıklı last night, saying the move was necessary to ensure that the ongoing investigation into one of the worst maritime disasters in recent years proceeds "without any shadows or doubts".
The decision came just hours after Arıklı had publicly stated he would seek the lifting of his ‘parliamentary’ immunity if investigators found any legal or criminal responsibility on his part. Despite hinting at his possible resignation following the ferry’s sinking, he made no such move and, to the increasing frustration of the families waiting to hear the fate of loved ones, as of yesterday, he did not go visit relatives camped outside the Kyrenia port.
Üstel stressed the dismissal was not a political move against Arıklı’s YDP (Rebirth party) and emphasised that the presumption of innocence remained in force. The YDP is one of a three-party coalition running the north. It remains to be seen whether the dismissal will shake the coalition and lead to early ‘parliamentary’ elections, currently expected to take place in December or January.
Agonisıng wait
Earlier in the day, the coalition leader visited the dozens of relatives outside the Kyrenia port. Apart from the desperate wait for news of their loved ones, another question repeatedly asked by the relatives was, ‘Where is Arıklı?’
Many Turkish Cypriot officials, including Tufan Erhürman, have visited the port and spoken to irate family members who want answers to why and how this tragedy occured. Some have not only survived the capsizing of the ferry off Kyrenia, but also saw loved ones slip from their hands as oil filled the surrounding waters.
One relative played Üstel a voice message sent to his phone by a missing person as the vessel capsized.
The Red Crescent and a nearby hotel provided the relatives with water and snacks as they waited throughout the day in the glaring heat, with only flimsy tents for cover.
While tensions remained high – particularly when there was movement from the military camp opposite the makeshift tents and adjacent to the port – the anger and frustration seen on Tuesday seemed to have been replaced by a quieter, unspoken agony.
At one point in the day, a civilian car stopped in front of the tents, as plain-clothed officers sought out Ayten Bicer and her husband – surviving passengers and parents of two missing children, believed to be 12 and 6. They drove them away to the port area where Politis understands they were shown items of luggage that may belong to the family.
Around an hour later, the car reappeared, the parents returned silently to their places of waiting, and another couple was asked to enter the car.
Harrowing accounts
Passengers who escaped the sinking described hearing loud noises from below deck before water began flooding the vessel, triggering panic as the ferry listed sharply and eventually rolled onto its side. Some said passengers became trapped inside seating areas as water poured into the vessel.
Among those mourned on Wednesday was 28-year-old Turkish specialist sergeant Fahri Ates, who was buried in his hometown of Mersin. According to Kıbrıs Postası, relatives said Ates helped save his wife and four-year-old son by securing life jackets for them before becoming trapped while searching for a life jacket for himself.
Gülcan Gürel, a hospital employee from Mersin reportedly sacrificed her own chance of survival to save her daughter. According to reports, as the vessel began to capsize and panic spread on board, Gürel removed her life jacket and placed it on her daughter, Tusem. She then turned to her sister, Eda Payam, and said, "I entrust my daughter to you." Gürel died in the disaster. She had been travelling with her father, sister and daughter after visiting her brother, who serves in the military. She was buried in Mersin.
According to AP, 14-year-old Nisa Torer and 56-year-old Nihat Balyemez were buried in Gaziantep on Tuesday, while another victim, Huseyin Ozdemir, who was attending a wedding with his family in the north, was laid to rest in Mersin province. Torer's father remains among those missing. Ozdemir's wife has yet to be found, although their two daughters survived.
At Tymbou airport on Wednesday, eight-months-pregnant survivor Menekşe Nur Akkaya Gokdas was flown to Turkey aboard an air ambulance after receiving treatment in north Nicosia. Her husband, Volkan Gokdas, accompanied her.
President Nikos Christodoulides yesterday conveyed his deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of all those who lost their lives in the two tragedies that struck Cyprus over the weekend. “In human tragedies, in the loss of human life, the pain is the same,” he said.
The investigation
Authorities have already detained the captain, crew members, company executives and port officials as investigators examine the circumstances surrounding the sinking.
Officials have said the vessel held valid seaworthiness and navigation certificates, while testimony from crew members has suggested the ferry may have suffered a breach to its bow during rough seas. The crossing from Kyrenia to the Turkish port of Tasucu had originally been scheduled for Saturday but was delayed to Sunday because of storm conditions.
For now, dozens of relatives continue to wait for news as robotic vehicles probe the darkness around the wreck over half a kilometre beneath the Mediterranean, searching for those still unaccounted for and for answers about how a routine crossing turned into a catastrophe. Beyond the need for answers, there will also be an expectation, once the investigation is complete, for accountability and justice.
