“Search underway for 11 sailors after ship sinks in Black Sea storms, killing at least nine”
Turkish helicopters are conducting a search in the Black Sea for 11 missing sailors after their ship sank in heavy storms, resulting in at least nine deaths. The Kafkametler cargo vessel went down with 12 crew members on board after hitting a breakwater while attempting to seek shelter from violent winds and waves about 200 kilometers east of Istanbul.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya confirmed that one sailor’s body had been recovered, and the search for the 11 others resumed after the storms had subsided. The Turkish-flagged ship was transporting ferrosilicon, an alloy used in steelmaking, from the Russian port of Temryuk to Aliaga in Turkey.
In addition to the sinking of the Kafkametler, a Turkish crew from a Cameroon-registered vessel that split in two and sank in the same region was safely rescued on Sunday. The weekend’s heavy storms caused widespread destruction throughout Turkey, including a tragic flash flood in the southeastern province of Batman that claimed the lives of three children from the same family.
The storms come after a particularly dry summer that led to the dams of Istanbul dropping to their lowest levels in nine years. Much of Turkey has been battling with an ongoing drought, which scientists attribute to climate change and inadequate water management.
