URGENT! Passengers Plead To Be Saved From Burning Italian Ferry 466 passengers and crew are being evacuated from an Italian car ferry that caught fire near a Greek island on Sunday morning. The evacuation is being complicated by strong winds and lack of places in lifeboats, according to the media. Fire broke out on an Italian Norman Atlantic car ferry traveling from western Greece to eastern Italy at around 6.00 am local time (0400 GMT), coast guard officials said on Sunday. The captain has requested the evacuation of the ship, according to initial information, spokesman Nikos Lagkadianos said. The international evacuation effort including Italian and Albanian forces is complicated by dangerous weather conditions with strong winds blowing in the area northwest of Corfu. The ferry has 411 passengers and 55 crew on board, as well as 222 vehicles. An official told Sputnik news agency that within the framework of the rescue operation some 150 people had already been transferred from a lifeboat to a container ship that had been sailing nearby. The captain of the ferry, owned by ANEK, a Greek company, is Italian, and 278 on board are Greek. https://youtube/watch?v=d68n4fONGjQ
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 11:54:44 +0000