Two reported missing after speedboat capsizes in Istanbul's Bosphorus

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Two people have been reported missing after a speedboat capsized in Istanbul’s Bosphorus strait, crashing into the pier of a waterside cottage early June 28. 

The speedboat capsized around 4:30 a.m. off Anadoluhisarı, a coastal neighborhood in Beykoz, a district in Istanbul’s Anatolian side, after it crashed into the pier of the historical Hekimbaşı cottage. 

The boat’s three passengers lost control of the boat as it was severely damaged after the crash. Two people were reported missing while another managed to land safely on a restaurant’s pier on the Beykoz shore.

Cengiz Korkmaz, the only known survivor of the crash, swam to the shore before he climbed up the restaurant’s pier.

Korkmaz was taken to the Beykoz State Hospital for treatment after it was discovered he was drunk. 

A group of security forces, including the marine police and Coast Guards, started seeking the missing two with search ships and boats under the Mehmet the Conqueror bridge, the second bridge over the Bosphorus.

An eye witness said the speedboat suddenly crashed at the cottage and that they had saved one who was able to swim. “We could not save the other two people. The search for the two is ongoing. We heard the man who survived the crash was drunk and hospitalized.”