1 dead, hundreds stranded on burning Italian ferry
ATHENS — Hundreds of passengers and crew endured a second night of smoke, frigid temperatures and gale-force winds as they waited to be evacuated from a burning ferry adrift early Monday in rough seas between Italy and Albania. At least one person died and two were injured in the risky rescue operation.
The Italian coast guard said 201 of the 478 people on the ferry, sailing from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy, had been evacuated by early Monday. Most were airlifted by helicopter to other merchant vessels sailing nearby, though a few were flown to hospitals in southern Italy to be treated for hypothermia.
“It will be a very difficult night — a night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board,” Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in Athens.
He said 10 merchant ships were in the area assisting rescue efforts, and that those that had already taken on dozens of passengers from the stricken ferry would remain in the area until the operation was over.
The fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, carrying 422 passengers and 56 crew members. Passengers huddled on the vessel’s upper decks, pelted by rain and hail and struggling to breathe through the thick smoke, passengers told Greek media by phone.
“We are outside. We are very cold. The ship is full of smoke,” passenger Giorgos Stiliaras told Greek Mega TV.
The Italian Coast Guard, which was coordinating the rescue operation, said the flames visible from outside the ship had been extinguished by about 8:30 p.m., about 16 hours after the blaze began. But the ferry was still enveloped in dense smoke, which the coast guard said probably was being fueled by some hotspots inside the ship.
The Greek coast guard said the Greek man who died and his injured wife were found in a lifeboat rescue chute.