10 dead, 41 missing in ferry disaster
ROME—The death toll after a ferry caught fire in rough seas in the Adriatic rose to 10 on Monday with dozens of passengers still unaccounted for.
It was unclear whether the missing passengers had drowned or otherwise died unnoticed or whether the ill-fated Norman Atlantic’s manifest lists were inaccurate.
Pending resolution of the issue, the Italian navy was continuing to search for bodies around the stricken ferry, which remained in waters close to Albania hours after nightfall.
As survivors described a terrifying ordeal that could easily have claimed far more lives, Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi confirmed that a total of 427 people had been winched to safety by helicopter over the course of a 24-hour rescue operation carried out in the teeth of an unusually fierce winter storm.
With the 10 confirmed dead, that left 41 people unaccounted for in comparison to the list of passengers and crew released by the ferry’s Greek operator on Sunday.
Lupi said it was unclear if the discrepancy was due to errors on the passenger list, no-shows at boarding or people getting off at a stopover on the Greek island of Igoumenitsa.
“It is up to the departure port to match up their list and the people (rescued),” Lupi said.
“That is why we are continuing our (search) effort: we cannot know what the exact number was.” Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis acknowledged the list was “possibly inaccurate” and complained about poor communication with Italy.
The uncertainty over the scale of the disaster emerged after the evacuation was completed in early afternoon.
The evacuation was completed nearly 36 hours after a fire broke out on the car deck and left the large vessel drifting dangerously.
Many of those rescued recounted how the fire triggered chaotic scenes which the crew appeared ill-prepared to deal with.
Ship captain Argilio Giacomazzi, 62, upheld maritime tradition by ensuring he was the last man off, handing over to Italian navy officers.