Cargo ship sinks off southern Turkey, 9 missing

The Turkish coastguard said on Wednesday that at least nine people were missing after a cargo ship sank off Turkey’s Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya.

Five crew members have been rescued while helicopters and frigates were joining the search for the remaining nine, the coastguard said.

All 14 crew members were believed to be Syrian nationals.

The freighter, flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau, was en route to Ukraine from Turkey’s port of Iskenderun, some 830 kilometres east of Antalya.

The ship sent out a distress call to the coastguard and ships in the area early Wednesday, informing them that it was sinking.

The exact cause of the ship’s sinking was not immediately clear.