Italian and Greek military and coast guard rescue crews battled gale-force winds and massive waves Sunday as they struggled to rescue hundreds of people trapped on a burning ferry adrift between Italy and Albania. At least one person died and two were injured.
The Italian Navy said 190 of the 478 people on the ferry, sailing from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy, had been evacuated by late Sunday night. Most were airlifted by helicopter to other merchant vessels sailing nearby.
"It will be a very difficult night. A night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board," Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in Athens.
He said 10 merchant ships were in the area assisting rescue efforts, and that those who had already taken on dozens of passengers from
the stricken ferry would remain in the area until the operation was over. Only then would it be determined where they would go, Varvitsiotis said.
The fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, carrying 422 passengers and 56 crew members. Passengers huddled on the vessel's upper decks, pelted by rain and hail, passengers told Greek media by phone.
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