Scores rescued from burning ferry near Greek island

SCORES of passengers and crew were rescued from a fire that engulfed an Italy-bound ferry with 290 people on board near the Greek island of Corfu, authorities said.

Coast guard officials said two truck drivers were stranded on the burning vessel awaiting a helicopter rescue, adding that a full check of passenger and crew member lists was expected to take several hours. The rescued passengers were being transported to Corfu, where one crew member and three passengers were admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties.

“This is a difficult operation and we must remain cautious. The final accounting of the people on board will take place on Corfu when everyone rescued is assembled there,” Greek deputy minister for shipping Costas Katsafados told state-run ERT television.

The pre-dawn fire broke out in the Ionian Sea on the Italy-flagged Euroferry Olympia three hours after it left the port of Igoumenitsa in northwest Greece for the Italian port of Brindisi. Greek authorities said 239 passengers and 51 crew members were on board, adding that the vessel was transporting more than 153 trucks and 32 cars.

The 183m (600ft) ferry, built in 1995, is operated by the Grimaldi Group, based in Naples, Italy. It was travelling near the small Greek island of Ereikousa, 15km north of Corfu, when the fire started.

Six boats from Greece’s coast guard and navy participated in the rescue effort along with four helicopters, an Italian customs inspection boat and several passing vessels, senior coast guard official Nikos Lagadianos said.

Rescued passengers, many wrapped in foil blankets, arrived in Corfu aboard the Italian inspection vessel and were taken to an assembly area where paramedics carried out first aid checks, officials said.

Italy’s customs agency later said 243 people were rescued by its vessel raising fears for missing passengers.

Lazos Madikos > The blazing ferry in the Ionian Sea near Corfu, Greece. More than 280 people were rescued