A total of seven people are confirmed to have died after a a passenger ferry capsized off the coast of Kyrenia, Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel confirmed on Sunday afternoon.

He told Turkish public broadcaster TRT that a total of 259 passengers were on board the boat when it set off from the new port of Kyrenia shortly after midday, and that 237 have now been brought ashore by search-and-rescue teams.

Additionally, he said that 23 people are left unaccounted for, later adding that “our top priority right now is to reach the 23 missing people as soon as possible”.

“All of our state’s institutions are on the ground. We are carrying out search and rescue operations with great care and closely monitoring developments,” he said.

Earlier, Turkish ambassador in Nicosia Ali Murat Basceri had said that there had been losses of life” recorded.

He told Turkish public broadcaster TRT that the boat had issued a may-day call at 12.10pm, saying that it was “taking on water” at a distance of around three miles north of the coast of Cyprus.

“Unfortunately, there have been losses of life,” he said, before adding that “a large number of people have been brought ashore”.

The boat capsized around two kilometres north of the coast of Kyrenia, with Turkish Cypriot coastguard boats being deployed to the scene, with a rescue helicopter being sent as backup, and various other boats setting sail from Kyrenia to aid in the rescue efforts.

Later in the afternoon, the north’s ‘transport minister’ Erhan Arikli said the boat had begun taking on water around four miles, or six and a half kilometres, off the coast of Kyrenia.

Both Arikli and Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel travelled to Kyrenia to oversee the recovery operation, while all events in Kyrenia which had been planned to take place to mark Turkey’s Victory Day – the anniversary of the 1922 Battle of Dumlupinar – were cancelled.

In addition, the Turkish Cypriot Lapithos, Karavas, and Myrtou municipality – known as the Lac municipality – advised would-be bathers to not get into the sea due to the “irregular movements” going on off the coast.

Meanwhile, the north’s ‘health ministry’ deployed a fleet of ambulances to the passenger terminal of Kyrenia’s new port in anticipation of the arrival of lifeboats and other vessels used to bring the passengers ashore, saying that “all the necessary preparations have been made to ensure that health services can be provided quickly”.