He recounted the scandals on the sinking ship one by one! What the officials did was literally attempted murder.

31.08.2026 10:21

Deniz Özpolat, a young man who survived the ship that capsized off the coast of Girne and also rescued a child, described the scandalous behavior of the officials. Özpolat recounted the horrific moments, saying, 'We couldn't find the life jackets. They closed the doors on us and we couldn't get out. They opened them later. We jumped into the water. The ship started sinking afterward; it first listed to one side. We broke the window and rescued people. There was a family in the open sea, there were children. We rescued them.'

A Turkish passenger catamaran, which departed on the afternoon of August 30, 2026, from Girne to Mersin's Taşucu Port, capsized shortly after departure. There were 267 passengers, including crew, on board at the time of the accident. In the accident, 8 people lost their lives, 241 passengers were rescued, and search efforts continue for 18 passengers. Deniz Özpolat, a young man who survived the sinking ship and also rescued a child, recounted the scandal committed by the officials.

"WE COULDN'T FIND THE LIFE JACKETS" 

Özpolat described the horrific moments, saying, "We couldn't find the life jackets. They shut the doors on us and we couldn't get out. Later, they opened them. We jumped into the water. The ship started sinking afterward, first listing to its side. We broke the window and rescued people. There was a family in the open, there were children. We saved them."

Upon hearing the news of the accident, many relatives of passengers rushed to the port in the first moments. Here, there were occasional arguments between the relatives trying to enter the port to get information about their loved ones and the officials. 

"WE BROKE THE WINDOWS AND RESCUED PEOPLE"

Deniz Özpolat, a young man who was on the sinking ship and survived, recounted the moments he rescued a child on board. Özpolat also stated that as the ship began taking on water, the officials shut the doors on the passengers, preventing them from getting out, and that they broke the windows to get people out.

"THEY SHUT THE DOORS ON US, WE COULDN'T GET OUT"

Özpolat described the horrific moments with these words:

"At first, the ship was bouncing through the waves. Water gushed inside. When the seat burst, we said to call the coast guard. One person came out, said there was no problem. We moved towards the exit door. People were already panicking. We couldn't find the life jackets. They shut the doors on us and we couldn't get out. Later, they opened them. We jumped into the water. The ship started sinking afterward, first listing to its side. We broke the window and rescued people. There was a family in the open, there were children. We saved them. We put them on boats. There was a very young baby."