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CatastropheGreece

Greece: Passenger found alive two days after ferry fire

February 20, 2022

The Greek coast guard said a survivor was found aboard a ferry two days after a fire broke out on the vessel. Another body has been found, though, as the search for missing passengers continues.

https://p.dw.com/p/47IuQ
Firefighters battle Greece-Italy ferry fire
Small fires continued to burn on the Euroferry Olympia, which sailed from Greece to ItalyImage: Guglielmo Mangiapane/REUTERS

Greek emergency workers rescued a Belarusian truck driver Sunday, some 48 hours after a ferry became engulfed in flames off the island of Corfu.

The truck driver was spotted on the ship's stern and was transferred to a tugboat.

Rescuers also discovered the body of another man on Sunday as they combed the wreckage for missing passengers.

The discoveries left 10 people still unaccounted for.

The Italy-bound Euroferry Olympia vessel carried 292 passengers and crew when it caught fire early on Friday. The rescuers managed to transport 280 people of the ship on Friday and take them to Greece's Corfu island. Emergency responders were still searching for 11 people, all thought to be truck drivers from Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey.

"I'm very worried, I don't know what will happen," Ilias Gerontidakis, the son of a missing Greek truck driver, told state television.

A rescued passenger from the Euroferry Olympia is assisted by the Greek coast guard at the port of Corfu
Rescued passengers were taken to Corfu in GreeceImage: Stamatis Katapodis/Eurokinissi/REUTERS

Firefighters delayed by extreme heat

The fire broke out three hours after the ferry left the port of Igoumenitsa, with authorities still attempting to determine the cause. Italy-based Grimaldi Lines that operated the ferry said the blaze started in a hold where vehicles were parked.

"We heard the alarm, we thought it was some kind of drill. But we saw through the portholes that people were running,'' Karaolanidis told the AP news agency. "When I hit the deck, I saw smoke and children. Fortunately, they (the crew) acted quickly."

"We saw death in front of us," another rescued passenger, Danilo Carlucci, told Reuters from Corfu.

Small fires continued to burn inside the vessel on Sunday. Firefighters only managed to board the ship on Sunday morning, after delaying due to excessive heat. With the blaze raging, the ship's outer sides had reached 600 degrees Celsius (more than 1,000 Fahrenheit), according to officials.

jsi, lo/dj (AFP, AP, Reuters)