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281 people rescued from burning ferry off Greece
Rescuers have suspended a search for 10 people who remain missing after a ferry caught fire off the coast of the Greek island of Corfu. The Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia has been burning for over five days. A total of 281 people of 292 people on board have already been rescued. The search for survivors was suspended on Tuesday, 22 February 2022, while the burnt-out 183-metre vessel was towed to Astakos, a mainland port, Greek authorities said. "It was a very difficult operation" due to the heavy smoke and "considerable thermal pressure," a spokeswoman for the fire department said. 42 rescuers and two helicopters had been taking part in extinguishing the fire and searching for those who remain missing.
Most of the passengers were immediately rescued on Friday morning with one of them, a 21-year-old Belarusian driver, being rescued over the weekend. The Italian-owned ferry, which was carrying more than 290 passengers and crew, as well as 153 trucks and 32 cars, caught fire on Friday, three hours after it left the northwestern Greek port of Igoumenitsa, on the mainland, bound for Brindisi, Italy. The ship is being slowly towed to the port of Kassiopi, in northeastern Corfu, by three tugboats, authorities said. Fire fighters were still battling the blaze, which, although confined in certain spaces, reignites from time to time, and thick smoke is hanging over the ship. The extreme temperatures in some parts of the ship have impeded the rescuers, made up of the Greek fire service’s Disaster Management Unit and a team of rescuers from private operators, from searching the whole ship. The ferry is slightly listing from the tonnes of water that have poured into it but authorities say it is not in danger of capsizing. The body of a 58-year-old Greek driver was found on Sunday in a charred truck, marking the first confirmed death on the vessel. Ten drivers are still missing: seven Bulgarians, two Greeks and a Turk, according to authorities. A prosecutor on Corfu has ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire. The Italy-based company that operates the ferry said the fire started in a hold where vehicles were parked. The ship’s captain and two engineers were arrested on Friday but were released the same day, authorities said. Officials said the people rescued included citizens of Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy, and Lithuania. ‘Miserable’ conditions The missing truckers reportedly slept in their vehicles because cabins on the vessel were overcrowded. Ilias Gerontidakis, the son of a missing Greek trucker, told the Proto Thema online newspaper the Olympia was “miserable from every point of view”. “It had bed bugs, it was dirty, it had no security systems,” he said as he waited at the port for news. “It had 150 lorries inside. Normally it should have 70 to 75 cabins but it only has 50. They force us to sleep four people in a cabin”, he said. “My father, from what I was told, slept in the truck.” The last shipboard fire in the Adriatic occurred in December 2014 on the Italian ferry Norman Atlantic. Thirteen people died in that blaze. Sources: Associated Press, Al Jazeera, NBC News and news agencies |
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