Cyprus: Ferry capsizes with hundreds on board

We can cross now to Ankara and bring in our correspondent Jasper Morterer. So Jasper, at this point what more do we know? Do we know how this happened? Yes, we've got a good idea of what happened because a survivor has told Turkish television. If I could just update you on the casualties because new figures have come in in the last few minutes. The number of rescued is 237. The number of dead is seven. Twenty-three people remained unaccounted for and some of those could be trapped inside. Now, because of the storms yesterday, no ships were allowed to leave the port of Girna, as Turkish Cypriots call it, Greek Cypriots call it Kyrenia, which is on the northern coast of Cyprus. But today, this ferry, a catamaran, which was thought to be better able to handle rough weather, was allowed to leave Girna. It left at noon and the sea was what Turkish sailors call dead waves. Calm, but every now and then a monstrous wave comes along. The survivor who spoke to Turkish television said that four nautical miles out of Girna, a big wave hit the catamaran. As it was recovering its balance from that first wave, a second monstrous wave hit it and that overturned it. People on yachts nearby thought the ferry had sunk completely, but then they saw the ferry was still on the surface but turned on its side and scores of passengers managed to climb on the side and were sitting there wearing their orange life jackets waiting to be rescued. And a huge rescue operation with many big ships and small ships was very quickly launched by the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot authorities. Now, Jasper, as you mentioned, the island has been experiencing some unusual weather for this time of year. So has that had an impact, what happened yesterday, what's happened today? Yes. Yesterday, I think two or three boats on the southern side of Cyprus, the Greek administered side, capsized. One of them hit the rocks and there were casualties there. But the only connection between yesterday's incident and today's incident is just the unseasonably rough weather. You know, now in Cyprus, it's the height of summer and one doesn't normally have winter storms like this. But, you know, climate change has changed the climate around the world. Jasper, thank you so much for keeping us updated on this developing story. That's France 24's Jasper Mortimer in Ankara.