Greek rescuers search burning ferry for 12 missing people

Agencies | Athens

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Rescue teams in Greece searched a burning ferry Saturday for 12 people believed to be missing after it caught fire in the Ionian Sea while en route to Italy, while passengers described a frightening evacuation from the ship.

After working all night to try to extinguish the blaze that broke out Friday, firefighting vessels surrounded the Euroferry Olympia, which was carrying more than 290 passengers and crew. The Greek coast guard and other boats evacuated about 280 of them to Corfu, said an AP report.

Photos taken Saturday morning showed thick smoke hanging over the ship, which was transporting 153 trucks and 32 cars.

A Greek coast guard spokeswoman said on on Saturday afternoon that none of the 12 missing people had been found, although only small pockets of fire were active in the ferry.

A Greek prosecutor on the island of Corfu has ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire, which broke out three hours after the ferry left the port of Igoumenitsa, on the mainland in northwest Greece across from Corfu, for the Italian port of Brindisi. The Italy-based company that operated the ferry said the fire started in a hold where vehicles were parked.

On Friday, authorities increased the number of missing from 11 to 12 after discovering that one person from the ferry was not listed on the passenger manifest.

The other missing passengers were believed to be mostly from Bulgaria. Officials said the people rescued included citizens of Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy, and Lithuania.