The ferry, although damaged, returned to its dock in Istanbul shortly after the accident. Ambulances and helicopters rushed to the scene to carry the injured to nearby hospitals, Tolga Uyar, spokesman of the ferry company told private NTV television.

"There is around 30 injured but they are not in serious condition and being transferred to local hospitals," Uyar said, adding that most of the passengers were injured when they hit their heads on seats or other parts of the ferry during the collision.

Uyar said the accident occurred when the ferry rammed the anchored freighter. It was not clear whether anyone was injured aboard the freighter, which was also slightly damaged.

"We panicked a lot, I am still trembling," the private Dogan news agency quoted Cigdem Mutlu, who was traveling with her 6-year-old daughter, as saying.

"We first heard screams of other passengers, then everybody started shouting and we were all pushed forward. Everybody took out life jackets, many people had head injuries and some were bleeding."

The accident occurred near the entrance to Istanbul's busy Bosporus, a narrow waterway which bisects the city and is part of the only sea link between the Black and the Mediterranean Seas. - DDNEWS