Istanbul, 5 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) - At least nine people are missing after a cargo ship sank off Turkey's Mediterranean coastal city of Antalya, the Turkish coastguard said on Wednesday.

Five crew members have been rescued while helicopters and frigates were joining the search for the remaining nine, the coastguard said.

All 14 crew members are believed to be Syrian nationals.

The freighter, flying the flag of Guinea-Bissau, was en route to Ukraine from Turkey's port of Iskenderun, some 830 kilometres east of Antalya.

The ship sent out a distress call to the coastguard and ships in the area early Wednesday, informing that it was sinking.

The exact cause of the ship's sinking was not immediately clear.