Azerbaijan, Baku, September 8 / Trend U. Sadikhova /
The Azerbaijani crew members of the Kramco trade ship, which crashed on Monday in the Black Sea near the Kilyos region of Istanbul, are in a stable condition, Azerbaijan's General Consul in Turkey, Sayad Aran, told Trend over the phone from Istanbul.
He said that all the crew members had been rescued. There were no fatalities and no one was injured due to the accident near the coast.
"The crew members were rescued immediately and taken to hospital, where top medical assistance was given them," Aran said.
The causes of accident were the bad weather conditions and being hit by a large wave. As a result, the cargo ship split into two parts.
"At present, they (the crew members) are on the 'Agenda-34' steamship and are assisting us to find out details of the accident," Aran said.
The Azerbaijani citizens will return to Baku after all the necessary information on the ship and all the details about the accident have been collected.
Azerbaijan's General Consulate in Turkey knows the identities of the Azerbaijanis and is prepared to assist them to return home, Aran said.
But the consulate has refused to announce the names of the Azerbaijani citizens.
The Kramco dry cargo ship, sailing under the Cambodian flag and which was carrying Azerbaijanis, crashed on Monday in the Black Sea near the Kilyos region of Istanbul.
Aran said that there was a team of 12 sailors on board, eight of them Azerbaijanis, two Georgians, 1 Ukrainian and one Turkish.
The distress signal from the cargo ship came at approximately 17.30 local time, NTV reported. A rescue team was sent to the site immediately after the crash.
First, nine crew members were evacuated, then three more were rescued, the TV channel reported. According to NTV, the Turkish Coast Guard boats and helicopters took part in rescue operations, which were complicated by severe storms.
Observers said that Istanbul has once again avoided an ecological catastrophe that would have been fraught with unpredictable consequences for the megalopolis of 12-million people.
Every year over 100,000 vessels transporting 150 million tons of oil cross the Bosporus, which rung through Istanbul.