Two dead after ship sinks off Turkey’s coast

Ankara, Jan 7 (AFP) Two crew members were found dead after a Panama-flagged cargo ship sunk off Turkey's Black Sea coast on Monday, officials said."The total number of crew members rescued alive is se

Ankara, Jan 7 (AFP) Two crew members were found dead after a Panama-flagged cargo ship sunk off Turkey’s Black Sea coast on Monday, officials said.

“The total number of crew members rescued alive is seven and our teams have found the bodies of two. Our rescue efforts continue,” the governor’s office of the northern Turkish province of Samsun said on Twitter.

The governorate had earlier said there were 13 crew members including nine Ukrainians, two Azerbaijanis and two Russians.

The ship encountered trouble 80 nautical miles from Samsun province and had sent a distress call at 8.10am (local time).

The cause of the incident was not given.

A plane, four helicopters and several rescue boats were on hand to find the missing crew, the governor’s office said in a separate statement. (AFP) PMS

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.