1 more found dead as search continues

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

After a break during night hours, the search and rescue teams went back to work yesterday and the body of one missing crewman was found.

One missing crewman found dead during rescue measures that have been ongoing since a cargo ship, a rescue boat and a fishing vessel sank Dec. 4 due to strong storms in the Black Sea near Istanbul’s Şile coast.

The St. Kitts and Nevis-flagged ship, Volgo Balt 199, with 11 Ukrainian and one Russian crew member aboard, was sailing to the Turkish port of Antalya from Russia when it sank off the coast of Istanbul. The vessel was carrying coal.

Search and rescue teams saved four members of the cargo ship, recovered one body and were searching for seven other crewmen when one of the rescue boats struck nearby rocks and sank along Şile’s Mendirek shore, killing two of the rescuers.

After a break during night hours, the search and rescue teams went back to work at 6:30 a.m. The body of one missing crewman was found at around 7:30 a.m. The body was removed from among the cliffs.

Rescue operations are ongoing to find the eleven people who are still missing.

Şile lies about 40 kilometers east of the northern end of the Bosphorus Strait, the only maritime outlet for cargo from Black Sea countries, including Russian oil and grain.

Meanwhile, three people were wounded in an explosion in İzmit yesterday. The explosion occurred as employees took samples from liquids gathered for disposal due to chemical reactions at the İZAYDAŞ treatment facility.

 which blew a hole in the roof of the building.