Fatality as ferry with 478 on board catches fire en route from Greece to Italy

 

An Italian car ferry with 478 people on board caught fire near a Greek island on Sunday morning prompting a massive rescue mission. While at least 190 passengers have been evacuated, one person was reported dead and several injured.
The dead man, a Greek national, and two injured people were discovered aboard the ferry, according to Greece's National Defense Ministry.
Fire broke out on an Italian Norman Atlantic car ferry traveling from western Greece to eastern Italy at around 6.00 am local time (0400 GMT), coast guard officials said on Sunday.
Helicopters are currently conducting a difficult rescue operation. RIA Novosti reported that 287 remaining passengers have gathered on the top deck.


Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis has that said due to the stormy conditions the rescue operation has proved extremely challenging.
"We are doing everything we can to save those on board and no one, no one will be left helpless in this tough situation,"Varvitsiotistold reporters."It is one of the most complicated rescue operations that we have ever done."
According to reports, emergency crews have managed to put out the fire as the weather has somewhat improved.
Earlier, torrential rain and strong winds reaching 100 kilometers per hour complicated the international evacuation, which included Italian and Albanian forces.
Italian navy spokesman Riccardo Rizzotto told AFP that due to the unusual conditionsm rescuers "need an extraordinary level of support, which is effectively what is being put in place,"and added that the ferry was now drifting towards the Albanian coast.
The captain of the ferry, owned by ANEK, a Greek company, is Italian, and 278 on board are Greek. There are people of several other nationalities from countries such as Germany, Austria, Turkey, France and the Netherlands, according to Reuters.
ANEK operators have not yet explained how the fire started.


 http://rt.com/news/218179-ferry-greece-italy-fire/