Coastguard rescues man from passenger ferry on fire for days

Greek emergency workers rescued a Belarussian truck driver yesterday from a burning ferry off the island of Corfu and found the body of another man as they combed the wreckage for missing passengers.

The discoveries left 10 people still unaccounted for.

The truck driver, in his 20s, was able to make his way up to the left rear deck on his own, and told rescue workers he heard other voices below.

There were no further details identifying the victim, the first body recovered from the Euroferry Olympia.

“The fact that this man succeeded, despite adverse conditions, to exit into the deck and alert the coastguard, gives us hope that there may be other survivors,” said coastguard spokesman, Nikos Alexiou.

The Italian-owned ferry, which was carrying more than 290 passengers and crew, as well as 153 trucks and 32 cars, caught fire three hours after it left the north-western Greek port of Igoumenitsa on Friday bound for Brindisi, Italy.

The Greek coastguard and other boats evacuated about 280 people to the nearby island of Corfu.

The ship is being slowly towed to the port of Kassiopi, in Corfu, by three tugs. Firefighters are still battling the blaze and thick smoke is hanging over the ship.

The extreme temperatures in some parts of the ship have impeded the rescuers from searching the whole vessel. It is slightly listing from the water poured into it to fight the fire, but authorities say it is not in danger of capsizing.

A Greek prosecutor on the island of Corfu has ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire.

Smoke rises from the Euroferry Olympia in Greece.