59-year-old Nuray Zeitun Ozbilier, who lost her life in the wreck of the Filo jet catamaran off Kyrenia at noon on Sunday, was buried on Monday afternoon in occupied Famagusta, during the first funeral held since the tragedy.
The ceremony was attended by the "Prime Minister" Unal Ustel, the president of the PTK, Sila Ushyar Incirli, several "ministers", "MPs" and relatives of the deceased, who was the mother of 4 children.
Eight people died in the shipwreck and 20 are still missing.
Several bodies of the victims of the shipwreck have been transported to Turkey, where their funeral will take place, in the cities where they lived. The bodies of Hussein Ozdemir and Reyhan Verim have already been transferred to Mersin. The body of Nihat Bayemez has been transferred to Gaziantep, where the funeral will take place today.
According to the Turkish media, Fahri Ates, who is among the victims, was a "special gendarmerie sergeant" and was travelling with his wife and 4-year-old child, whom he saved but did not manage to save himself. His wife and child are being treated in a hospital in the occupied territories while the rest of his family lives in occupied Tremetousia.
The Turkish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Haci Ali Ozel, who is in the occupied territories for the second day, visited the crisis management office in Kyrenia yesterday and was briefed on the situation by the "Prime Minister", Unal Üstel, the "Minister of Health", Hakan Dinciurek and others.
Mr. Özel visited Turkish citizens who are being treated in various hospitals and spoke with their relatives. He stated that efforts are ongoing to meet the needs of victims and citizens, to arrange their transfer to Turkey and are ready to provide any other necessary support.
Investigations continued
For the second night in a row yesterday, after the shipwreck, searches continued in the area with 8 ships, 9 boats, 1 aircraft, 7 helicopters and 5 UAV drones. As announced yesterday by the "Prime Minister", Unal Ustel, in order to further strengthen the research, a specialized research vessel arrives today from Turkey, capable of operating at depths of up to 1000 meters.
Today the sea routes from the Akjuler company also begin, as Filo jet has completely stopped theirs. Also today, the private airline Pegasus has put 4 additional flights in its daily schedule, with subsidized ticket prices, to meet the needs for the movement of people between Turkey and the occupied territories.
Investigations to locate and recover the "black box" of the Filo Jet are ongoing, as authorities attempt to shed light on the exact causes of the deadly shipwreck off Kyrenia. The passenger ferry has sunk to a depth of about 514 meters, which makes data recovery operations significantly difficult.
The authorities examine all data concerning the condition of the ship, the weather conditions and the decisions taken before departure.
As part of the investigation, eight crew members have been arrested, including the captain, as well as another man.
The Filo Jet was en route from occupied Kyrenia to the port of Tasucu in Mersin, Turkey, when it capsized at sea. There were 259 passengers and eight crew members on board.
The trip was originally scheduled for Saturday, but was postponed due to severe weather conditions in the area. Despite the improvement in conditions on Sunday, difficult conditions were still prevailing when the accident occurred.
CNA, protothema.gr
