ATHENS: More than 280 people have been evacuated from a ferry in northwestern Greece that caught fire overnight while heading to southern Italy, authorities said. At least one person was slightly injured in the evacuation, coast guard officials said.
The Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia had sailed from Igoumenitsa, the largest port in western Greece, and was headed to the Italian port of Brindisi, about nine hours away. The fire, the cause of which was not immediately known, broke out near the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea with 233 passengers and 51 crew members on board.
"The final accounting of the people on board will take place on Corfu when everyone rescued is assembled there," Greek Deputy Minister for Shipping Costas Katsafados told state-run ERT television.
The predawn fire broke out Friday on the Italy-flagged Euroferry Olympia shortly after it left the port of Igoumenitsa in northwest Greece for the Italian port of Brindisi with 239 passengers and 51 crew members on board.
The 183-meter (600-foot) ferry, which was built in 1995 was travelling near the small Greek island of Ereikousa, 15 kilometers north of Corfu, when the fire started. Images of the ferry from local television channels indicated the blaze was extensive.
Greek truck driver Giorgos Parlantzas, one of the rescued passengers, recounted what took place on the Euroferry Olympia. "I was sleeping in my cabin when they came to alert us. I grabbed my ID and headed for the deck where people were being assembled.It must have been about 3:00 or 4:00 a.m.And we were put onto boats," Parlantzas told the AP, speaking by telephone after arriving in Corfu.
Six boats from Greece's coast guard and navy participated in the rescue along with four helicopters, an Italian customs inspection boat and several passing vessels, senior coast guard official Nikos Lagadianos said.
Rescued passengers, some wrapped in foil blankets, arrived in in Corfu aboard the Italian inspection vessel and we're being taken to an assembly area we're paramedics were also carrying out first aid checks, local officials said.
Images from local television channels of the ferry following the evacuation indicated that the fire was extensive. The passengers and crew, who evacuated on lifeboats, were being taken to Corfu, authorities said. Weather conditions in the area were mild.