Passengers Evacuated From Burning Corfu Ferry

Written By Unknown on Senin, 29 Desember 2014 | 22.57

All the surviving passengers on the ferry that caught fire off the coast of Corfu have been safely evacuated - but seven people are now known to have died.

Six bodies were found on the stricken Norman Atlantic on Monday morning, while a Greek passenger was already known to have died after falling into the water during the rescue operation.

Italian authorities said the remaining people on board - thought to be about 470 - were now safe, following an operation in which rescuers had to battle stormy seas and strong winds.

The ferry's captian, Argilio Giacomazzi, handed over control of the vessel to Italian navy officers at 2.50pm local time (1.50pm UK time).

Among the survivors are four Britons, including showjumper Nick Channing-Williams, who was taken to an Italian hospital for a check-up along with his Greek fiancee Regina Theofilli.

The 422 passengers and 56 crew members were forced to spend hours being lashed by driving rain, hail and high winds as they huddled on the top deck while trying to avoid the flames and smoke coming from one of the car decks.

Mr Channing-Williams told Sky News he was woken at about 5am by a fire alarm.

He said: "By the time we got out on deck the flames were huge. A lot of the cars were on fire. It was actually just very scary to be honest."

He described climbing down ropes to help a rescue tug get near to the ferry before eventually being evacuated by helicopter himself.

Italy has opened a criminal investigation into the disaster. It will focus on how the fire started and how it was able to spread.

The Italian owner of the ferry has reportedly said the boat was in full working order and had passed technical tests - including on its fire doors - as recently as December 19.

Rescued passengers described scenes of chaos as the fire broke out on the ferry as people slept in their cabins.

Greek truck driver Christos Perlis, 32, said: "Our feet were burning and from the feet up we were soaked.

"Everyone there was trampling on each other to get onto the helicopter.

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  1. Gallery: More Than 100 People Saved From Vessel Near Corfu

    A firefighter carries a child from the "Spirit of Piraeus" cargo container ship as they arrive at Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece

Passengers evacuated from the burning ferry Norman Atlantic arrive aboard the Singapore-flagged cargo container ship

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