Fire on cargo ship on Marmara Sea kills two

ISTANBUL

A fire that erupted in the engine room of a dry cargo ship en route from the northwestern city of Yalova to Bulgaria killed two workers off Sedef Island on Oct. 31.

According to a statement from the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry, the deceased workers, identified as Hüseyin Aydemir and Gökhan Kan, were among the 17 personnel and eight shipyard workers on board at the time of the incident.

Coastal safety teams responded to deploy an evacuation boat and two tugboats to assist with firefighting efforts. The blaze was ultimately brought under control by the intervention teams.

In the aftermath of the fire, the prosecutor's office has initiated a probe into the circumstances surrounding the incident. The vessel was subsequently towed to the anchorage area in Istanbul's Kartal district.

The bodies of Aydemir and Kan have been transported to the morgue of the forensic medicine institution in Istanbul for autopsy procedures.