Turkey searches for 11 missing sailors after deadly storm
Turkey searches for 11 missing sailors after deadly storm
By AFP
Turkish helicopters Monday scoured the Black Sea in search of 11 sailors who went missing when their ship sank in heavy storms that killed at least nine people.
The Kafkametler cargo vessel sank with 12 crew on board after hitting a breakwater Sunday while trying to seek shelter from violent winds and waves about 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Istanbul.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the body of one sailor had been recovered and the search for the 11 others resumed Monday after the storms had died down.
The Turkish-flagged ship was transporting ferrosilicon -- an alloy used in steelmaking -- from the Russian port of Temryuk to Aliaga in Turkey.
Rescuers on Sunday also safely recovered the Turkish crew of a Cameroon-registered vessel that broke in two and sank in the same region.
Heavy storms left a trail of destruction after lashing most of Turkey over the weekend.
The victims included three children from the same family who died in a flash flood in the southeastern province of Batman.
The storms followed a particularly dry summer that saw the dams of Istanbul drop to their lowest levels in nine years.
Much of Turkey has been suffering from an extended drought that scientists attribute to climate change and poor water management.
