#Society #Ferry #fire claims seven lives at #Ionian Sea by Maria Spiliopoulou The death toll from the fire on an Italian-flagged ferry in the Adriatic has increased to seven, according to Italian media reports on Monday. The identities of the dead have not been verified. Only the first casualty found on Sunday has been identified as a Greek national. In a written statement issued on Monday afternoon, Greek President Karolos Papoulias expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy, and sent his condolences to the families and friends of the victims and gratitude to all rescuers. A total of 432 people have been evacuated from the bridge of the ferry which caught fire early Sunday when it was making its way up the Adriatic from Patras in Greece to Ancona on the east coast of Italy, the Greek Coast Guard said on Monday. The Greek authorities were informed by the Italian search and rescue centre at Rome, which was in charge of the rescue efforts, the evacuation operation for people at the higher decks had ended, Greek Coast Guards spokesman Nikos Lagadianos said in the latest press briefing at Piraeus port. Searches at the lower decks of the Norman Atlantic had been launched by special squads of the Italian Navy, the Greek official cited the Italian side sources. A crosscheck between the list of the rescued given by the Italian authorities and the initial list of 478 passengers and crew members released on Sunday by the Greek managing shipping company ANEK lines was being conducted to clarify whether there were any missing individuals, Lagadianos said.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 03:09:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015