Rescue operations continue in Greece, particularly at the Adriatic Sea near Corfu, where a ferry has been stranded due to a fire. One passenger died in the incident while two more were injured.

Dozens of passengers, most of them Greeks, were still being rescued Sunday evening despite the condition and the weather. According to Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, the passenger who died was a Greek identified as Yiorgos Doulis.

Like Us on Facebook

Winds brought about by the storm made rescue efforts very difficult but they were able to rescue 165 people by Sunday 7:00 pm. Four Italian and Greek helicopter crews were deployed in the area to rescue the passengers, reports suggest.

Many of the people rescued had to be airlifted as the rescue continued until late hours in the evening in an effort to have everyone transferred safely.

"We are making superhuman efforts in this extremely difficult operation. Operations by air will continue throughout the night," according to Greek coastguard spokesman Nikos Lagkadianos.

There were still at least 300 passengers and staff who remained at the ferry by seven in the evening and there were also Albanian, Greek and Italian coast guard boats in the area in order to help in the rescue efforts. Some of those who were rescued had to be flown directly to hospitals in Italy to be treated for hypothermia. 

The ferry was identified as an Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic that started to sail from the Greek port of Patra. The destination was said to be towards Ancona, Italy. There were 478 people on board in total and 268 of them were Greek.

The ferry has been employed by a Greek ferry company called ANEK and it was built back in 2009. It previously worked only in Italy.

According to a document, safety checks in the ferry that was executed by port authorities in Patra last December 19 stated that there were some malfunctioning safety features of the ferry. However, a spokesman from ANEK pointed out that the ferry was complete will all the needed safety documentations. 

TagsStranded ferry, Greece, ferry fire, Adriatic Sea, Norman Atlantic, rescue