One of many passengers reported lacking on the Italian ferry on hearth off the Greek island of Corfu has been discovered alive and rescued, the coast guard mentioned on Sunday.
The younger man of 21 who mentioned he comes from Belarus was positioned behind the ship, AFP was informed.
"Inform me I am alive!" he shouted to rescuers, based on the newspaper Proto Thema.
Rescuers had beforehand detected his presence and had been in a position to board the vessel to offer him first assist and evacuate him through a ladder, the Greek authorities mentioned.
The person is one in every of a dozen lorry drivers who had been lacking. Rescue groups are nonetheless searching for the opposite 11, eight of them mentioned to be Bulgarian nationals.
They had been nonetheless unaccounted for as smoke continued to billow from the ship on Sunday morning, greater than 48 hours after the hearth took maintain.
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Climate hampers rescue efforts
Aided by a helicopter, a frigate, six tug boats and a fire-fighting vessel, divers and hearth crews homed in on the realm on Saturday, hoping to seek out the lorry drivers who had not responded to calls.
However confronted with the blaze fanned by the wind, in addition to sporadic explosions and temperatures reaching 500 levels on board, the Greek coast guard and hearth service mentioned rescuers had been unable to board the ship.
The hearth on the Euroferry Olympia, owned by the Italian firm Grimaldi, broke out at 4:12 native time on Friday.
It was crusing by means of the Ionian Sea en path to the Italian port of Brindisi with 288 folks on board.
The Greek coastguard initially mentioned that 278 folks had been rescued, together with one one that was not on the official passenger listing.
Two overseas passengers had been later discovered and transported to hospital by helicopter.
A 42-year-old crew member was additionally injured and was transferred to close by Corfu by a coastguard patrol boat "as a precaution", the director of the Corfu hospital, Leonidas Roumbatis, confirmed.
In keeping with ERT footage, the person was strolling with issue, supported by firefighters when he arrived on the port in Corfu. He was affected by respiratory issues, based on preliminary media studies.
Earlier, Secretary of State for the Service provider Navy Kostas Katsafados had earlier informed Greek radio station Skai that each one passengers had been secure and on rescue boats.
The Greek coastguards mentioned in an announcement on Friday morning that it dispatched 4 patrol boats, which had been assisted by two tug boats, 5 different boats together with one from the Italian Police and two personal fishing vessels, in addition to three helicopters.
The reason for the hearth just isn't but recognized and an investigation has begun.
A passenger mentioned that they "had been sleeping once we had been alerted that there was a hearth."
"We acquired wearing a second and went on deck the place we got life jackets," the truck driver, who was contacted by cellphone by ERT, mentioned.
On the bridge, "it was panic, there was quite a lot of smoke popping out of the storage, the ambiance was suffocating," he added.
The ferry's captain instantly requested the passengers to go away the boat, whereas patrol boats, coastguard tugs and firefighters had been dispatched from Corfu, an announcement mentioned.
Grimaldi additionally reported that the ship was additionally carrying 153 business automobiles (vehicles and trailers), in addition to 32 passenger automobiles.
"No gas spill has been detected at sea, nor does the steadiness of the ship seem like compromised," it mentioned, including that "tugboats have been employed and are heading in the direction of the Euroferry Olympia to offer immediate help and handle the emergency."
"The highest administration of the Grimaldi Group expresses its remorse for the incident and can totally cooperate with the competent authorities to make clear the incident," it mentioned.
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