Nineteen dead as migrant boat sinks off northern Cyprus (video)

At least nineteen people have been confirmed dead and 25 missing after a migrant boat carrying about 160 people sank off the coast of north Cyprus, some 30 kilometers off Yenierenköy early Wednesday morning.

103 migrants were rescued by boats and helicopters by Turkish and northern Cypriot coast guards, with 30 other people still missing and been searched for.

One rescued person was in critical condition and was taken to north Cyprus by helicopter, the coast guard said.

A Panama-flagged commercial ship spotted the migrant boat some 25 nautical miles from Turkey’s southern province of Antalya and alerted the coast guard on Wednesday morning, the statement said.

According to Turkish Cypriot media, the boat, first located by the Turkish coastguard, began sinking at around 6am due to water inflow into the engine room.
The rescued migrants have been transferred to Turkey, while Turkish Cypriot said they are standing by and are ready to receive some of the migrants, if necessary.

According to Turkish media, Hurriyet, the boat had been detected by radar on Tuesday night but sank early on Wednesday morning.