Cyprus ferry survivors describe terror on sinking ship as others drowned around them
The survivors of a ferry disaster off the coast of Cyprus that killed eight people described the chaotic moments of terror as they scrambled to escape the sinking vessel as others drowned around them.
The passengers spoke as rescue teams searched for 18 people missing since the ship carrying 267 capsized after leaving Kyrenia, a port in breakaway northern Cyprus, for Tasucu in Turkey on Sunday afternoon.
Serkan Kunduraci, who escaped the sinking ferry by hauling himself through a broken window, said he saw children and others drowning in the sea some 7.5 kilometers (4 nautical miles) off the Cypriot coast.
“I saw some who didn’t know how to swim die in the sea,” he told the DHA news agency. “There were those who, in a panic, didn’t grab life jackets. Some jumped (into the sea) immediately out of fear. There was an old man, we couldn’t get him. We tried to pull him up, but we couldn’t. He drowned too.
“We saw and witnessed a family’s children, boys and girls, very young children, drowning.”
Survivors told how the ferry began listing and taking on water after they heard a number of loud noises from below decks.
“The crew came, took a look and told us there wasn’t a major problem, just a loose gasket causing a leak,” Kunduraci said.
When the order to evacuate came, he added, people were already panicking. He said the ship began tilting as the captain apparently made an effort to return to Kyrenia, known as Girne in Turkish.
“There was so much screaming and so many people were trapped behind — they had been left in the rear,” Kunduraci said. “They couldn’t get out. There were bodies and people piled on top of them. Those trapped underneath were the unlucky ones, they stayed down there.”
Deniz Ozpolat also recalled the sense of panic onboard the ferry, which was owned by Filo Denizcilik.
“We headed toward the exit. A crush of people had already formed. We couldn’t find the life jackets. They shut the doors on us and we couldn’t get out,” he told DHA.
“They opened them later. We jumped into the water. The ship began to sink after listing to the side. We broke the windows and rescued people. There was a family out in the open water, there were children.”
Rescuer Muhammed Ozcelik, who runs a water sports company, said his boat was one of the first on the scene and began hauling people from the sea.
“We tried to do more than we could. People were saying, ‘Take me too, take me too,’ but the capacity was full. We even took far more than (our capacity) … People were fighting for their lives.”
