Cargo ship torn in half during storm off Turkey as rescue teams search for 11 sailors from another ship that sank with at least one dead

A cargo ship was torn in half during a storm off the coast of Turkey as rescue teams desperately searched for 11 sailors from another ship that sank in the choppy waters.

The Cameroonian-flagged Pallada broke in two after running aground amid 5-metre waves near Eregli, a coastal town east of Istanbul. All 13 crew members were rescued.

But weather hampered efforts to reach another cargo ship, the Turkish-flagged Kafkametler, which sank off the same coast in Turkey’s Zonguldak province with 12 crew members on board.

Rescue crews pulled the body of one crew member from choppy seas as they desperately searched for the other 11 sailors.

The ship’s captain had reported on Sunday morning that the ship was heading for a breakwater at Eregli and Yerlikaya. The ship may then hit the structure.

The region was hit by powerful storms on Sunday and bad weather prevented air and sea vessels from conducting searches until Monday morning.

A view of the stranded cargo ship that drifted due to the storm in the Eregli district of Zonguldak, Turkey on Monday

Rescue crews pulled the body of one crew member from choppy seas as they desperately searched for the other 11 sailors

The Cameroon-flagged Pallada broke in two after running aground amid 16-foot waves at Eregli, a coastal town east of Istanbul (pictured)

Yerlikaya told reporters that storms and floods across Turkey this weekend had resulted in the deaths of four people in the southeastern province of Batman, three people in Zonguldak and another person in Diyarbakir, also in the southeast.

Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said prisoners were being transferred from Eregli prison to surrounding facilities due to rising water levels.

Turkey’s emergency agency AFAD previously issued severe weather warnings for 72 of the country’s 81 provinces. Turkish Airlines canceled 105 scheduled flights from Istanbul’s two airports on Sunday. Snow caused travel disruptions on the Istanbul-Ankara highway.

The private Demiroren news agency reported fallen trees, lampposts and telephone poles in Zonguldak and Sakarya provinces, as well as damage to buildings.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said 210 homes and workplaces in the Black Sea city of Sile were flooded. Wind speeds had risen to 100 km/h, he reported.

On the Sea of ​​Marmara, fishing boats moored in Esenkoy were destroyed and heavy rains led to landslides.

Meanwhile, gale-force winds, heavy rain and snow have hit large parts of neighboring Bulgaria, killing two people, causing severe damage and disrupting power supplies in towns and villages.

An aerial view of the stranded cargo ship

Due to the bad weather, air and sea vessels were unable to conduct searches until Monday morning

Turkey’s emergency agency AFAD previously issued severe weather warnings for 72 of the country’s 81 provinces.

A view of the stranded freighter Pallada

Sea and air search operations are being launched in the area where the Kafkametler ship sank on Monday after hitting the breakwater after leaving the port of Eregli, Turkey.

Sea and air searches are launched in the area where the Kafkametler ship sank in Turkey on Monday

A tree was uprooted as a result of the storm

Residents of eastern Bulgaria, which was hardest hit, said they had never experienced such extreme weather.

A state of emergency was declared in the Black Sea city of Varna, which experienced torrential rain mixed with snow and heavy winds. Officials said the conditions posed risks to the public.

The mayor’s office reported a power outage in all parts of Varna. Fallen trees and branches blocked major roads, stranding vehicles. The city urged residents to stay home and not use their cars unless they have urgent needs.

Varna International Airport was open but had delayed and canceled flights, airport officials said.

Police said a man was killed on Saturday after his van hit a fallen tree on a major boulevard in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. In Varna, a woman died after being hit by a falling tree branch.

Bulgarian meteorologists warned of dangerous weather across most of the country’s east on Sunday, with wind gusts of up to 125 km/h forecast. The heavy rain was expected to turn to snow as temperatures dropped.