Ten missing on Greek ferry: Drivers were sleeping in trucks

The Greek Coast Guard clarified that there were 239 passengers and 51 crew members aboard the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia.

Most of them managed to cross into lifeboats and be transferred to the port of Corfu. There are currently no reports of deaths or injuries.

A person with smoke-breathing problems was taken to hospital. However, reports in some media speak of 10 missing. The passengers themselves, during communications with various televisions, said they feared that not all of them might have escaped because some drivers are said to have slept in their trucks.

The ferry had departed from Igoumenitsa, the largest port in western Greece, towards the Italian port of Brindisi, located about nine hours away.

When the fire broke out, the ship was in Greek waters but the currents have recently pushed it into Albanian ones, making it now only a few miles from our shores. Greek ships and Italian guardia di finanzas were involved in the rescue operation, while three Albanian ships and a tugboat quickly approached the area.

Our Coast Guard also recorded some images of the ferry under the control of the flames, which had exploded just as it was near the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea.

“We woke up terrified around 4:20 a.m. Within an hour we were off the ship… We were rescued by the crew, who acted quickly“, Said one of the passengers for TV Skai over the phone.

The ferry is part of the Grimaldi Lines group fleet and has a capacity of up to 560 passengers, according to the company website.

Grimaldi Lines spokesman Paul Kyprianou told Reuters that the cause of the fire was still under investigation, while the damage caused, according to him, is serious, because despite the efforts of the crew, it has been impossible to extinguish the cracks. In 2014, 10 people lost their lives when a ferry with 466 passengers and crew members caught fire while sailing from Greece to Italy.

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