An assailant claiming to have a bomb hijacked a passenger ferry carrying 20 people in northwest Turkey on Friday, a local mayor said.
Kocaeli Mayor Ibrahim Karaosmanoğlu said in a live broadcast on NTV that he was aware of only one hijacker on the 400-passenger capacity ferry, Today's Zaman reported.
Private Dogan News Agency said five unidentified assailants had overpowered the captain of the "Kartepe" ferry, which was travelling in the Gulf of Izmit, east of Turkey's largest city İstanbul.
No further details were immediately available.