Greek rescue forces were desperately trying to extinguish fires raging for a second day on an Italian cruise liner off the coast of Corfu, as the search for 12 people believed to be missing intensified.
Firefighters battled flames leaping from the ferry’s interior as state TV showed images of the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia engulfed in thick, acrid smoke. Efforts to bring the blaze under control were hampered by gale-force winds on Saturday, while intense heat from the ship made it impossible for rescuers to land on it, the broadcaster reported.
“The fire is still burning and firefighting vessels have been trying to put it out,” Greece’s shipping minister, Ioannis Plakiotakis, told Skai television.
Hundreds of passengers were saved in what Plakiotakis described as a heroic rescue operation after the boat’s Italian captain ordered people to abandon ship when the fire broke out at 4.12am on Friday.
As night fell, two men – a Bulgarian and an Afghan migrant – trapped in the ship’s garage were airlifted by commandos winched down to the ship from a Super Puma helicopter. The 65-year-old Bulgarian was reported to be in critical condition in Corfu’s general hospital.
Officials said an array of vessels from different arms of the navy, as well as elite forces, were participating in the rescue operation.
“We are doing everything to save those who are missing,” said the Greek coastguard spokesperson, Nikolaos Alexiou, clarifying that they were all men. Asked if it was not too late, he said: “The aim is to find them.”
The shipping ministry said passengers who remained unaccounted for included nationals from Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Lithuania. All were thought to be lorry drivers.
Nine people, including two rescuers, had spent the night in hospital with most suffering from respiratory problems.
Among the 280 people who had managed to flee the stricken ship were children, babies and two migrants not on the official passenger list who were described as stowaways. All had spent the night in hotels on the Ionian island.
Bound for Brindisi, the 183-meter Grimaldi Lines ferry had set sail from Igoumenitsa, the largest port in western Greece, with 239 passengers and 51 crew members officially on board. The fire is believed to have started on a third level car deck, 10 miles north of Corfu, according to a statement released by the Italian shipping company. A total of 25 vehicles and 153 trucks were registered on the ship.
Rescued passengers likened scenes to the Titanic, saying once it became clear the fire could not be brought under control, and flames reached the passenger deck, “panic and chaos” broke out on board.
“It was so unreal, it was a bit like the Titanic, but it was real,” David Waller, a 58-year-old rescued trucker told Reuters.
Another lorry driver, described as Albanian, said he thought death had “come for me”.
“There was so much smoke. I thought we wouldn’t make it,” he told Greek state TV. “It took us about an hour and a half before we got into the lifeboats and about three more hours before we were picked up.”
Many said they had lost everything to the blaze, listing passports, money, luggage, trucks and vehicles.
An Italian finance police boat, which happened to be in the region, was credited with playing a seminal role in the rescue operation, with the country’s president, Sergio Mattarella, personally calling the finance unit’s commander to thank him. Local fishing boats also rushed to the scene to search for people who may have jumped into the water.
The ferry’s captain and two mechanics appeared before a public prosecutor on Saturday as a judicial investigation was formally launched. Greek officials described the incident as the worst maritime disaster since 2014, when the Italian-owned passenger ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in the Adriatic Sea with as many as 22 people – including migrants who had sneaked on board – losing their lives.
Athens’ shipping ministry said once the fire was extinguished, the Euroferry Olympia would be tugged to a safe place so that its tanks could be emptied to avoid an environmental disaster in the area.
