adminATHENS. — More than a dozen passengers from the hundreds on board an Italian-flagged ferry which has been stranded off the Greek island of Corfu since early yesterday morning with a fire still blazing in lower decks have been airlifted to safety by two Italian helicopters assisted by a Greek one, the Greek Coast Guard announced.
About 100 passengers have also been safely transferred on three nearby vessels with life boats, Greek officials said.
There were no reports of injuries or people missing.
A total of 478 people – 422 passengers and a 56 member crew – were on board the “Norman Atlantic” when the fire broke out under still unclear circumstances at the ship’s garage before spreading to other parts, according to Greek authorities and a laconic press release issued by the Greek managing shipping firm ANEK Lines which had chartered it from an Italian company.
The majority of people on board were Greek nationals, according to the Greek Shipping Ministry.
There was no official information on the nationalities of other passengers on board rather that the captain of “Norman Atlantic” and the rest of the crew members were Italians.
The ferry was sailing at about 30 nautical miles off Corfu in international waters when it sent out a distress signal.
It had departed from the port of Patras at Peloponnese peninsula and was en route to Ancona, Italy via the port of Igoumenitsa in western Greece.
Speaking to media outside the Greek Shipping Ministry at Piraeus port as an international wide rescue operation was continuing, Nikos Lagadianos, the Greek Coast Guard’s spokesman said Greek officials were notified by their Italian counterparts who were co-ordinating the operation that at least 14 passengers, among them children, have been airlifted to Italy. — Xinhua
Online Reporter