Final hospital patient from Kyrenia ferry disaster discharged

The final person who remained in hospital following the sinking of a passenger ferry off the coast of Kyrenia last week has been discharged, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said on Thursday. A total of 14 people are confirmed to have died as a result of the accident, while 14 more remain missing, and Ustel told an extraordinary session of the Turkish Cypriot legislature convened to discuss the matter that as part of efforts to locate the 14 missing persons, a third search-and-rescue ship has set sail from Istanbul. That ship, he said, is also “equipped with deep-water search capabilities and specialised technical gear” and will “hopefully be here by Sunday evening”, before commencing work alongside the two deep-sea search-and-rescue ships which have already been deployed to the waters off Cypurs, the TCG Isin and the TCG Alemdar, on Monday next week. On this front, Ustel had said on Wednesday night that “it is a fact that the search operations are taking time due to the depth of the sea, the conditions of the area, and the state of the wreckage”. Related Articles • Erdogan says nine ships, 11 aircraft continuing search for Kyrenia ferry missing • Fourteenth body recovered from Kyrenia ferry wreck • No more bodies recovered from Kyrenia ferry wreck, authorities pursuing ‘new methods’ • Applications open for ferry victims’ families to claim support • There must be full investigations into Cyprus boat tragedies • Thirteenth body recovered from Kyrenia ferry wreck “However, we are resolutely continuing our efforts by expanding our resources and deploying new technical capabilities,” he said. All eight crew members arrested On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that a total of nine ships and 11 aircraft are participating in efforts to recover the bodies of the 14 people who remain unaccounted for after the ferry disaster. “Following the accident, an investigation was launched by the North Cyprus authorities, and eight crew members, including the ship’s captain, were taken into custody. The judicial process is being closely monitored by our official institutions,” he said. All eight members of the boat’s crew, including its captain, Mustafa Oz, were arrested on the day of the disaster, and all eight remain in custody, having last appeared in court on Thursday last week. There, a police representative said that Oz had bought his Honduran captain’s licence for $3,500 after having made contact with “some people in Greece” after his original Turkish licence expired following a 10-year hiatus from the industry. Additionally, it was claimed that the Turkish port of Tasucu, the ferry’s planned destination, had been closed on August 30, the day of the accident, following storms in the region, and was due to remain closed until 3pm that day, but that Oz decided to set sail “regardless” at midday. The ferry capsized shortly after leaving the new port of Kyrenia en route to Tasucu on August 30, with 259 passengers and eight crew members on board.