According to institutions, eight people died, and several others are missing.
The ferry set sail from the northern port of Girne (Keryneia) on Sunday around noon (12 PM Lithuanian time) to the mainland part of Turkey, but soon capsized. A large rescue operation was launched.
There were 267 people on board.
241 people were rescued, eight people died, and 18 were listed as missing. Their nationalities are currently unknown.
Several survivors told the local media that they heard an explosion before the ship capsized, and the police detained the captain and several other individuals.
On Monday morning, the captain and eight others appeared before a judge and were officially arrested. Northern Cyprus declared a three-day national mourning, reported the official Cyprus news agency TAK.
Passengers said that water started flooding the ship and that it capsized after sailing about four nautical miles.
Footage broadcast by Turkish television from the scene showed the capsized ferry, with passengers wearing life jackets sitting on its orange hull.
Northern Cyprus Transport Minister Erhan Arikli said that shortly after, the ferry completely sank and currently lies at a depth of 514 meters.
Raising the ship’s “black box” would help understand what caused the tragedy, added E. Arikli.
Some survivors said they heard an explosion at the front of the ship, while others said there was not enough safety equipment.
“Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets,” a young man named Efe Multici told CNN Turk. “It was simply a fight for survival.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in response to a Greek Cypriot coup organized by Athens aiming for union with Greece.
Today, the island consists of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which declared independence in 1983 but is recognized only by Ankara, and the Republic of Cyprus in the south, a member of the European Union (EU).
Northern Cyprus is connected to Turkey by regular air and sea routes.
