A passenger ferry carrying 267 people capsized off the northern coast of Cyprus on Sunday, leaving at least eight people dead and prompting a search to rescue the remaining passengers. Most passengers had been rescued, but 18 people were still missing, said Tufan Erhurman, the president of the part of northern Cyprus that has declared itself an independent Turkish republic, in a briefing late Sunday reported by Anadolu, Turkey's state-run news agency. Four of the victims had been identified, Mr. Erhurman added, and the search for survivors was continuing by local and Turkish search and rescue teams. The captain and seven crew members were detained as part of an investigation into the vessel, said Unal Ustel, the prime minister of northern Cyprus, in a statement published by Anadolu, calling it "the biggest maritime disaster Cyprus has experienced." Mr. Ustel said that the episode would be thoroughly investigated and that "if there is even the slightest negligence, it will be uncovered."

The ferry had departed the Cypriot port of Kyrenia (known as Girne in Turkish) for Tasucu, in southern Turkey. The Turkish Interior Ministry said it was carrying 259 passengers and eight crew members when it began taking on water about four miles from Kyrenia. Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz of Turkey described the vessel as a "catamaran-type" boat. "I extend my condolences to the passengers on board, the crew and our nation," he said on social media. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the search effort by Turkish and northern Cypriot forces was expansive and involved helicopters and naval units.

We are deeply saddened,