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Hundreds stranded in Greek ferry disaster

 
A woman, being lifted to a Italian military helicopter from the deck of the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic, was among the nearly 200 people rescued Sunday. At least one person is dead.
A woman, being lifted to a Italian military helicopter from the deck of the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic, was among the nearly 200 people rescued Sunday. At least one person is dead.
Published Dec. 29, 2014

ATHENS, Greece — Hundreds of passengers and crew faced smoky fire, frigid temperatures and gale-force winds Sunday as they waited for nearly a day to be evacuated from a burning ferry adrift in rough seas between Italy and Albania. At least one person died and two were injured in the risky rescue operation.

The Italian Navy said 190 of the 478 people on the ferry, sailing from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy, had been evacuated by late Sunday night. Most were airlifted by helicopter to other merchant vessels sailing nearby, though a few were flown to hospitals in southern Italy to be treated for hypothermia.

"It will be a very difficult night, a night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board," Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.

He said 10 merchant ships were in the area assisting rescue efforts, and those that had taken on dozens of passengers from the ferry would remain in the area until the operation was over.

Nevertheless, officials in the Adriatic port of Brindisi were preparing for the first large group to arrive — about 50 people, expected sometime after midnight, the coast guard said.

As darkness fell, Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said rescue operations would continue through the night.

The fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, carrying 422 passengers and 56 crew members. Passengers huddled on the upper decks, pelted by rain and hail and struggling to breathe through the thick smoke, passengers told Greek media by phone.

"We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke," passenger Giorgos Stiliaras told Greek Mega TV.

He recalled people being awakened by "the smell of burning plastic," and he said the heat from the fire felt like the floors were "boiling."

The ferry was last inspected by the Patras Port Authority on Dec. 19 and six "deficiencies" were found, but none was so grave as to keep it in port, according to the report on the European Maritime Safety Agency's website.

The Italian navy said the man who died and his injured wife were transported by helicopter to the southern Italian city of Brindisi. It was unclear how the death and injury occurred. The second injury was to a member of the Italian military involved in the rescue operation, officials said.