Northern Cyprus ferry: Couple's children missing after vessel capsizes - BBC News

Ayten and Hayri Bicer's two young children are among 20 missing in an incident that killed eight people.

Image source, ReutersImage caption, Ayten Bicer and Hayri Bicer's two children are missing

Ayten Bicer felt her 12-year-old daughter slip from her grasp and disappear as the ferry they were travelling on capsized off the coast of northern Cyprus on Sunday, killing eight people.

Her daughter Miray and six-year-old son Memhet Asaf are among 20 people still missing after the vessel sunk while en route to Turkey from the coastal town of Kyrenia, in the self-proclaimed Turkish republic on Cyprus.

She and her husband Hayri survived, and like many other families are waiting for news of their loved ones back in port as rescuers continue to search.

"She was saying, 'Don't let go'. And I didn't let go of my daughter. I swear, I didn't let her go," Bicer told reporters through tears.