At least 11 missing as fire tears through packed ferry off Greece

Fireplace burns on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia off the island of Corfu, Greece, February 18, 2022.

Hellenic Fireplace Service/Handout by way of REUTERS

Athens — At the very least 11 individuals had been reported lacking on Friday as hearth crews raced to place out a blaze on an Italian-flagged ferry crusing by way of the Ionian Sea. Practically a dozen individuals sustained minor accidents as lots of had been rescued from the burning vessel, Greek officers mentioned.

A Bulgarian and a Turkish truck driver had been trapped on the Euroferry Olympia, with a Tremendous Puma helicopter despatched to choose them up, the Greek coastguard mentioned.

Greek coastguard officers mentioned 278 individuals had been rescued, together with a migrant whose presence raised fears for extra unaccounted-for individuals on board. Migrant stowaways continuously sneak onto ferries between Greece and Italy.

These rescued had been taken to the island of Corfu. Ten of them had been taken to hospital with respiration difficulties and minor accidents, public tv ERT mentioned.

Ferry homeowners Grimaldi Traces mentioned the vessel was formally carrying 239 passengers and 51 crew, in addition to 153 vehicles and trailers and 32 passenger automobiles.

Smoke rises from the Italian-flagged Grimaldi Euroferry Olympia that caught hearth off the coast of Corfu island, Greece, February 18, 2022, on this nonetheless picture obtained from a social media video. Nikos Bardis ? debater.gr/by way of REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

NIKOS BARDIS/DEBATER.GR/by way of REUTERS

Grimaldi Traces mentioned they had been alerted at 4:12 am (0212 GMT) to the hearth on the Euroferry Olympia, which was heading to Italy from the Greek port metropolis of Igoumenitsa reverse Corfu.

Tv pictures confirmed the ship enveloped in flames which despatched plumes of black smoke into the sky.

"The ship is burning from finish to finish," Corfu rescuer Yiorgos Glikofridis advised ERT from a vessel close to the ferry.

"There's a super quantity of smoke and visibility is poor. We see no motion on the deck, solely flames," he mentioned.

A Greek coastguard spokeswoman mentioned it could take a number of hours to extinguish the hearth.

The Bulgarian international ministry mentioned there have been 127 of its nationals on the passenger record, together with 37 truck drivers. One other 24 are from Turkey, Turkey's NTV station mentioned.

No gasoline spill has been detected at sea, and the ship's stability didn't look like compromised, the corporate mentioned.