Turkish officials have confirmed that two people were killed while a third suffered injuries after their fishing boat was struck by a foreign-flagged commercial vessel in the waters off Istanbul on Thursday, June 17.
The incident between the fishing boat Erkenoglu and the Portuguese-flagged 180-metre containership AS Rosalia occurred near Istanbul's Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge in the Bosphorus in the afternoon (local time) of Thursday. The containership had just departed the Port of Haydarpasa and was sailing north for Constanta in Romania, while the fishing vessel was headed in the opposite direction.
The collision left the fishing vessel severely damaged that it ended up partially submerged in the waters near the bridge.
A number of rescue tugs and Good Samaritan fishing vessels arrived at the scene to render assistance to the three fishermen.
One of the fishermen was pronounced dead at the scene by responding medical personnel while another died as he was undergoing treatment in hospital. The third fisherman suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
AS Rosalia has since been towed to a nearby anchorage while the wreck of Erkenoglu has been raised and brought to the Port of Poyraz.
Investigators are now studying the events that led to the collision.
