Two trapped, hundreds rescued after flames engulf Greece-Italy ferry
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Two people are trapped on a ferry that was engulfed in a blaze as it sailed between Greece and Italy in the early hours of Friday, the Greek coastguard said, after scores of others passengers and crew members were rescued.The coastguard said in total 239 passengers and 51 crew members had been on board the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia and most of them had boarded rescue vessels transferring them to the port of the island of Corfu where ambulances were waiting."We were woken up around 4:20 a.m. Within an hour we had left the ship ... We were saved by the crew, which acted fast," one of the passengers told Skai TV via telephone. "Two people have been trapped in the garage and efforts are being made to lead them to the deck," one coastguard official said, adding that a helicopter was waiting to airlift them away.The fire, the cause of which was not immediately known, broke out near the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea."Damage is severe because despite the efforts the crew was unable to extinguish the fire," he said.At least three Greek coastguard vessels and the Italian financial police patrol boat Monte Sperone were involved in the rescue operation.