The Italian car ferry “Euroferry Olympia” continued to be engulfed in flames on Saturday night. The ship drifted pilotless north of the Greek island of Corfu and a few nautical miles off the Albanian coast. Tractors and the fire brigade used water cannons despite the darkness to contain the fires, Greek radio reported. By Friday evening, 280 people had been brought to safety. Twelve people are missing, according to the Coast Guard.
The missing are mainly truck drivers who had spent the night of Friday when the fire broke out in their vehicles on the garage decks. However, it is feared that stowaways could also have been on board. Many migrants hide in trucks and try to get from Greece to Italy. So far, authorities have discovered two such stowaways among the rescued people.
Most of the passengers were brought to safety after the fire broke out, coordinated by the crew, as most eyewitnesses told reporters on site. The rescue of two people who had initially been trapped in one of the decks was spectacular. A special unit of the Greek Navy abseiled from a helicopter onto the ferry. A little later, two people trapped in the ferry were picked up and taken to safety.
The search for other people trapped in the ferry had to be stopped at night because of the darkness and the fires. It was scheduled to continue on Saturday morning, Greek state radio reported.
The causes of the fire on the ferry from Greek Igoumenitsa to Italian Brindisi are not yet known. First, the rescue operation would have to continue, extinguish the fire and bring the ship safely to port. Only then could the investigation begin, according to Coast Guard circles in Piraeus.