An estimated 237 people have been rescued but 18 are missing after accident off the coast of northern Cyprus

• Fatalities after ferry carrying nearly 270 capsizes off northern Cyprus

Republican Turkish party MP Sami Ozuslu told the Guardian late on Sunday that the death toll had risen. “Sadly we are now hearing that there are nine or ten dead,” he said.

The families of passengers were converging on hospitals in Nicosia, Kyrenia and elsewhere, desperate for news of loved ones, he added.