Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Joe Golder, Agency: Newsflash
This is the moment Turkish police divers find the ship’s cook still alive in a capsised vessel in an accident that claimed the lives of two of his colleagues.
The incident took place off the coast of Samatya in the district of Fatih in the north-western Turkish cit of Istanbul on 10th October.
The fishing boat capsized with 13 people on board and two men reportedly lost their lives.
In the video, police divers are seen entering the vessel to check for any survivors and successfully rescuing a fisherman identified only by his first name Cemal from inside the capsized vessel.
Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya, who shared the clip on social media, said: “I congratulate our coast guards for saving brother Cemal and 10 other fishermen during a dramatic rescue operation after the fishing boat capsized in the early hours of the morning.”
After the incident, Cemal said: “I am a chef on the boat. While my colleagues were working on the deck, I was sleeping down here. Then the boat capsized.
“There was a space where I could breathe next to the engine where seawater could not get in. I was trapped there.
“I waited for four hours to be rescued and I was scared I would die there like that.
“Thank God the coast guard found me and saved me. I later learned that two of my friends died, I am so very sorry about that.”
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