A survivor was rescued Sunday morning from the stern of a burning passenger ferry, according to the Coast Guard, while 11 people were still missing.
The man, a Belarusian national, was found in apparent good health on the port side of the stern of the Euroferry Olympia, a Coast Guard spokesman told The Associated Press.
The Italian-owned ferry, which
carried more than 290 people on board
including passengers and crew, as well as 153 trucks and 32 cars, caught fire on Friday, three hours after setting sail from the northwestern port of Igoumenitsa. Greek, bound for Brindisi, Italy.
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Smoke rises from the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia, which is on fire for the third day, in the Ionian Sea near the Greek island of Corfu, Sunday, February 20, 2022.Petros Giannakouris/AP
Greek coastguards and other vessels evacuated some 280 people to the nearby island of Corfu.
One of the two passengers rescued Saturday night was not on the ship's records and was believed to be a migrant.
Some passengers described a dramatic rescue situation.
“We heard the alarm, we thought it was some kind of drill.
But we saw through the skylights that people were running,” a truck driver named Karaolanidis told the AP.
“One cannot think of anything other than family...
When I got on deck, I saw a lot of smoke and children
.
Fortunately the crew was quick to mobilize,” she added.
[A cargo ship with luxury cars burns adrift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean]
Among the rescued people
were citizens of Albania, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Italy and Lithuania
.
A fire broke out in the cellar
The ship was being slowly towed to the port of Kassiopi, in northeast Corfu, by three boats, according to authorities.
The firefighters continued to fight the fire
, which although it was confined to some points, was reactivated from time to time.
A dense smoke could still be seen rising from the ship.
Extreme temperatures in parts of the ferry had prevented rescuers, made up of the Greek fire service's Disaster Management Unit and a team of rescuers from private operators, from searching the entire ship.
The ferry was tilted slightly by the large amount of water that had poured into it, but authorities said it was not in danger of sinking.
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A Greek prosecutor on the island of Corfu has ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire.
The Italy - based company that operates the ferry said
the fire started in a warehouse where vehicles were parked
.
The ship's captain and two engineers were arrested on Friday and released the same day, according to authorities.