A passenger ferry capsized and sank off Northern Cyprus on Sunday, killing at least eight people and leaving more than a dozen missing, officials and media reports said, as police took the captain and seven crew members into custody.

Several rescued passengers told local media a blast had gone off at the bow of the ferry before it rolled over, and said the boat had an insufficient supply of life-vests.

The vessel capsized 6.5 kilometres off the coast of Cyprus, shortly after leaving a Northern Cyprus port bound for Turkiye’s mainland.

Images broadcast by Turkish television showed the upside-down ferry in the water, with people wearing life vests atop its orange hull.

“Some people had to jump without lifebuoys or life jackets,” one young man, Efe Multici, told CNN Turk. “It was literally a fight for survival.”

The ferry had been carrying a total of 267 people, according to authorities, of which 161 were rescued and taken to hospital and 76 have returned home.

The official Cypriot news agency TAK, however, said 17 were missing.

The ferry had departed from the Northern Cyprus port of Kyrenia — called Girne Kepuveia in Turkish — heading to the Turkish port of Tasucu.

Captain arrested

Unal Ustel, prime minister of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), said the ship’s captain and seven crew members had been arrested.

The TRNC, which is recognised only by Turkiye, controls the northern third of the island of Cyprus, which has been divided since 1974. The territory is served with regular air and sea links to Turkiye.

The TRNC’s transport minister Erhan Arikli said the ferry had “completely sunk to a depth of 514 metres (1,686 feet)”.

“Efforts to find the missing are continuing tirelessly,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a public ceremony. “We hope to receive positive news from these efforts.”

The TRNC is dependent on Turkiye, and Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said on X: “We are providing all necessary assistance to the search and rescue operations.”

One rescued passenger who spoke of a blast on board told local TRNC television after he was taken back ashore: “The front part exploded, they tried to turn around. And the side windows blew out. The boat started taking on water.”

The man, aged in his 50s and not named, said he spent an hour and a half in the water before being rescued. He said many people had been inside the ferry when it started taking on water.

“Those who could, got out,” he said, adding that he saw the captain among the first to abandon ship “without organising anything”.

Another witness, in his thirties, corroborated reports of an explosion. He said he had reported water leaks to the captain.

“The seats started to float, the captain kept going, and the bow exploded,” he said.

Many inside

Many boats, including private ones, were involved in the rescue operation. Turkiye’s interior ministry said on X that six Turkish navy ships had also been dispatched.

“All necessary preparations are being made for a swift response from rescue and health services,” the TRNC’s health ministry said in a statement.

Hospitals in the territory had been alerted, to provide any needed medical attention, it added.

Pakistan extends condolences

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar both said they were “deeply saddened by the tragic” incident in the Mediterranean Sea.

“I extend my heartfelt condolences to my dear brother President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish government and the bereaved families,” PM Shehbaz wrote on X.

He prayed for the swift and safe recovery of those missing, affirming that the people of Pakistan stood in solidarity with the Turkish nation “at this difficult time”.

Expressing his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, Dar wrote, “Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected and with the missing persons and their loved ones.”

He also prayed for the success of search and rescue operations.