Minister Yerlikaya announces that the Turkish ship missing in the Black Sea has sunk

Interior Minister Yerlikaya made a statement regarding the incidents that occurred in many provinces due to the heavy rainfall and storm. While providing information about the latest situation province by province, the Minister said that 2 of our citizens lost their lives.

In addition to the loss of life in Diyarbakır and Batman, Yerlikaya also shared the information that 50 people were injured in these provinces.

Minister Yerlikaya also reported that the cargo ship named Kafkametler, which hit the breakwater in the Karadeniz Ereğli district of Zonguldak, has sunk and that contact could not be established with the 12 Turkish crew members.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya visited the Kdz. Ereğli district of Zonguldak and shared the latest information regarding the severe weather conditions and maritime accidents occurring across Turkey.

Yerlikaya announced that the dry cargo ship named Kafkametler in the district hit the breakwater and sank, and that the 12 crew members have not yet been reached.

Arriving at the Kdz. Ereğli District Governorate building, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya made assessments regarding the process experienced with heavy rain and storms.

The Minister touched upon the 1,611 reports in 16 provinces and the 65 roof collapses, 270 fallen trees, 102 floods, and 1,150 other incidents that occurred as a result of these reports. He also expressed his sadness over the two lives lost in Diyarbakır and Batman and wished a speedy recovery to the 50 injured people.

“Search and rescue operations will begin when adverse weather conditions return to normal”

Drawing attention especially to the maritime accidents in Zonguldak Karadeniz Ereğli, Yerlikaya provided information about the sinking of the Turkish-flagged dry cargo ship named Kafkametler and the loss of contact with the crew, as well as the incidents involving the ships Palada and Sormonsky 45. He stated that AFAD, the Coast Guard, and other rescue teams are standing by and that search and rescue operations will begin once the adverse weather conditions improve.

The Minister prayed for the crew on the ships affected by the bad weather conditions and stated that the President is constantly following the situation and that the public is being continuously informed. He also conveyed his condolences for the citizens who lost their lives and expressed his wish for protection from all disasters.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya included the following statements in his remarks:

“Before the day began on Sunday, November 19, our General Directorate of Meteorology issued an orange alert for twenty-nine of our cities across Turkey. But during the day, this orange warning rose to forty-one cities. Warnings for heavy rain and storms were issued through all media by our General Directorate of Meteorology, the Ministry of Interior, and the AFAD presidency. Great preparations were made; under the coordination of our Governorates, municipalities and non-governmental organizations made truly significant preparations. I would like to share the data of our AFAD presidency so far.

There are 1,611 reports received from our citizens in sixteen provinces. If we were to make a brief statement regarding these reports, there are a total of 1,611 reports, including 65 roof collapses, 270 fallen trees, 102 floods, and 1,150 other incidents. Unfortunately, there are two losses of life. One person in our Han district of Diyarbakır and another citizen in the province of Batman lost their lives due to excessive rainfall.

We wish God's mercy upon our citizens who lost their lives. May their souls rest in peace. I offer my condolences to their relatives. Again, there are 50 injured in our two provinces. We convey our get-well wishes to our injured citizens. We pray to our Lord for their speedy recovery. The number of damaged vehicles is 16 in four provinces. So far, we have 7 thousand 17 personnel in our 16 provinces, primarily under the coordination of our governors and again with the coordination of our AFAD. 109 of our citizens in four provinces were also rescued by these personnel upon the reports made.

Currently, for Zonguldak Karadeniz Ereğli, dear friends, due to adverse weather and sea conditions, the Turkish-flagged dry cargo ship named Kafkametler, which left the port to go to İzmir, drifted and sank by hitting the breakwater. Contact has not yet been established with the 12 Turkish crew members on board. The Coast Guard Command, Naval Forces, AFAD, Coastal Safety, gendarmerie, police, and fire brigade teams are standing by. Search and rescue operations will begin immediately as soon as the adverse weather conditions improve.

Again, towards noon, as AFAD shared with the public, the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship named Palada, which was moored at the port, drifted and ran aground due to its rope snapping. The thirteen crew members on the ship were rescued by fire brigade teams. Another ship, the Cameroon-flagged cargo ship named Sormonsky 45, also drifted due to its rope snapping and was rescued by being taken under tow by a port tugboat with its twelve crew members.

Our AFAD President and the colleagues accompanying him have received forecasts from meteorology that the weather will be better tomorrow morning. That is, in terms of a green warning. But we will all see in the morning.

All our friends present at the meeting here shared and explained that early yesterday morning, the wind reached seventy-four knots at times, the wave height reached nine meters, and visibility unfortunately dropped to twenty-five meters.

Of course, in such an adverse weather environment, unfortunately, we could not carry out search and rescue operations for the twelve citizens, that is, the twelve Turkish crew members, on our ship named Kafkametler. I regret to state this. Our prayer is that as soon as the day breaks in the morning, we are waiting for the favorable weather to give us the opportunity to carry out search and rescue operations. As I just stated, the Coast Guard, Naval Forces, AFAD, Coastal Safety, gendarmerie, police, and fire brigade teams are all ready, and as soon as the adverse weather conditions become favorable, we will begin our search and rescue operations and we will share these with the public moment by moment through you.

Our President is following it constantly, following it moment by moment. We are presenting the information. Our prayer, our wish, is to reach these brothers as soon as possible.

We say may God protect our country and our city from all disasters again. We say get well soon to all of us. Again, I offer my condolences to our citizens who lost their lives,

I wish for God's mercy. I also wish it for their relatives and our fellow citizens. I wish our injured citizens a speedy recovery from our Lord once again. I say get well soon to all of us. Thank you.”