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Rescuers were still searching for survivors on Monday, a day after a ferry capsized off Turkish Cyprus, leaving eight dead and more than a dozen missing, authorities said.
The ferry left the northern port of Girne around midday on Sunday bound for the Turkish mainland but capsized shortly afterward, triggering a major rescue operation, local authorities said.
There were 267 people on board at the time. Of those, 241 were rescued, eight died and another 18 were listed as missing. There was no immediate word on their nationalities.
Several survivors told local media they had heard a blast shortly before the vessel rolled. Police detained the captain and more than a dozen others.
Early on Monday, the captain and eight others were brought before a judge and placed under formal arrest, as Turkish Cyprus began three days of national mourning, the official Turkish News Agency-Cyprus (TAK) said.
"Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets," one young man, Efe Multici, told CNN Turk. "It was literally a fight for survival."
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