A Cyprus Ferry Was Delayed a Day for Bad Weather. It Sailed Into It Anyway — and Capsized.

The Filo Jet wasn't even supposed to be sailing that day. The catamaran ferry, which runs between Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus and Taşucu on Turkey's southern coast, had already been held back a full day because of rough weather. When it finally left port on Sunday morning, it made it about four nautical miles before the sea took it down.

According to Wikipedia's actively updated summary of the incident, cross-checked against wire reporting from CNN, Yahoo News and i24NEWS, the vessel hit a wave, and while attempting to recover, was hit by a second wave that capsized it. There were 259 passengers and 8 crew aboard.

The Filo Jet departed Kyrenia at 11:58 a.m. local time on August 30, roughly 7.5 kilometers offshore, in water reported at 514 meters deep near Diana Beach. Four coastguard vessels and two helicopters from Northern Cyprus were scrambled, alongside a passenger vessel and a wave of civilian boats that joined the search once word spread.

Casualty figures on a disaster this fresh tend to shift as rescue teams work, and this one is no exception; different outlets have published slightly different counts within hours of each other. As of publication, the most detailed tally puts it at 8 dead, 241 rescued and 18 still unaccounted for, out of 267 people aboard. Earlier wire reports cited 7 dead and 22 missing. Treat the exact figures as provisional until Northern Cyprus authorities issue a final count.

Northern Cyprus police detained eight people in connection with the sinking, including the ferry's captain, as part of an investigation into how a vessel already delayed once for weather ended up sailing into conditions that capsized it. That detention doesn't amount to a finding of guilt on anyone's part yet. It does tell you where investigators are pointing first: not just at the storm, but at the decision to sail into it.

Turkish Ambassador Ali Murat Başçeri said Sunday that 'most people have been rescued.' The Speaker of Turkey's Parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, offered condolences. Neither addressed the delay-then-departure sequence directly.

CONFIRMED: the Filo Jet, operated by Filo Denizcilik, capsized around midday on August 30 while sailing from Kyrenia to Taşucu, roughly a day after its original departure was postponed for weather. It was hit by two waves in succession. The captain and crew were detained as part of the investigation. Four coastguard vessels and two helicopters led the search, joined by civilian boats.

UNVERIFIED, and likely to change: the exact final death toll and number still missing. Different outlets are reporting different numbers within the same news cycle, which is normal for a rescue operation still in progress, not a sign either figure is wrong. UNVERIFIED: why the ferry departed when it did, given the prior day's postponement — that's the open question the detained captain and crew are presumably being asked.

A ferry already pulled from its schedule once for bad weather went out anyway and didn't make it four miles. Whatever investigators find about that decision will likely matter more, in the end, than the weather itself.