Sky News' afternoon show ground to a halt minutes into the broadcast on Sunday (August 30) as presenter Barbara Serra delivered a breaking news alert from Cyprus. She announced that a passenger boat with 270 people on board had capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus, according to local media reports.
The boat had departed from Kyrenia and was heading to the Turkish port of Tasucu when the incident happened earlier that day. Officials later confirmed that passengers had died, while more than 172 had been rescued, according to Unal Ustel, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus.
Prime Minister's update on casualties
In a statement shared by local media, Ünal Üstel said: "We are deeply saddened. There has been a loss of life, and there are injuries. We are on the ground with all our resources."
The Prime Minister later issued a new update on X, formerly known as Twitter, confirming that seven people had died and a further 23 were missing as search and rescue operations continued. He wrote: "Out of the total 267 people on board the show, 237 have been rescued by our terms. Unfortunately, seven individuals have lost their lives. Our search and rescue operations to locate the 23 missing persons continue without interruption, with all our resources mobilised."
Rescue efforts and response
The Turkish ambassador to Nicosia, Ali Mirat Basceri, also said there were some casualties but did not specify how many, speaking to Turkey's state-run TRT news channel. The catamaran-style boat started taking in water a few kilometres off the coast, they reported.
Northern Cyprus Transportation Minister Erhan Arikli told TRT that the ship had overturned and that rescue crews were already on the scene. Several companies run ferries on the busy route between Kyrenia and Tasucu, though it is not yet known which company operated the ferry that capsized.
Video footage from the scene shows people with life vests floating in the waters surrounding the capsized vessel. A rescue helicopter and other boats from Kyrenia were sent to the search and rescue mission. Viewers took to social media to share their tributes, with one user writing: "So devastating" and another saying: "This is heartbreaking, RIP to the deceased."
