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Cyprus ferry disaster toll rises to 19 with nine still missing

Rescuers recovered another body from the "Filo Jet" ferry that capsized off northern Cyprus on 30 August, bringing the death toll to 19 with nine missing. Nine people remain in custody on suspicion of death through negligence.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Arab News

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Rescuers recovered another body from the ferry that capsized off northern Cyprus in late August, raising the death toll to 19, with nine people still missing, officials said on Saturday 3 October. Mixed · 2The update came in a statement from the office of Unal Ustel, prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a breakaway state recognised only by Ankara, according to the official TAK news agency. Mixed · 2The crowded "Filo Jet" ferry, carrying 267 people, capsized on 30 August shortly after leaving the port of Kyrenia in the north of the divided island.

Mixed · 2Rescuers pulled 239 people to safety and eight others died, which triggered a large operation to find 20 missing people. Mixed · 2Search crews have kept working in and around the wreckage, which lies at a depth of 514 metres (1,686 feet). Mixed · 2On 25 September Ustel said rescuers had found the ferry's voyage data recorder, or black box, and handed it to police; its data is expected to give a clearer indication of the cause. He said the search of the wreckage was complete but efforts to find the missing would continue.

Mixed · 2Within hours of the capsizing, police arrested nine people on suspicion of death through negligence: captain Mustafa Oz, seven crew members and a director of Filo Denizcilik, the ferry's operator. Mixed · 2All nine were back in court in Kyrenia on Friday 2 October, where their custody was extended by another seven days, according to the Kibris Postasi news website. Mixed · 2Police told the court the recorder was handed to Turkish authorities on 30 September, its data was copied to a drive and the recorder returned, and analysis would take some time.

Mixed · 2Investigators said an expert report described earlier repairs to the ferry as "superficial, inadequate and unacceptable", and that they had found the watertight doors were not properly closed before departure. The cause of the capsizing has not been officially established.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Straight AFP wire report, carried by Hindustan Times, on the updated toll and the state of the investigation.
Emphasis
Toll, ongoing search, arrests and court hearing, investigators' findings on repairs and doors.
Leaves out or plays down
No independent reporting, victims' accounts or reaction from families.
For example
“This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.” — Hindustan Times

Right1 outlet

Framing
Arab News runs the same report under an Istanbul dateline, as a factual update on the toll and investigation.
Emphasis
Same details: toll, missing, black box, detained crew and operator, investigators' findings.
Leaves out or plays down
No independent reporting, victims' accounts or reaction from families.
For example
“The death toll from the Cyprus ferry tragedy has risen to 19 following the recovery of another body, leaving nine people still unaccounted for.” — Arab News