The fire on the ferry off the Greek island of Corfu has not yet been fully extinguished and temperatures are extremely high. Ten passengers are still missing.
Athens – On the fourth day after the serious fire broke out on the Italian car ferry “Euroferry Olympia”, Greek rescue teams and salvage experts from the Netherlands continued the search for ten missing people.
During the night, flames had blazed up again from inside the ship. However, the fire brigade was able to bring them under control quickly, the state broadcaster reported.
The search for the missing is complicated by toxic gases and extremely high temperatures on the ferry’s lower decks. The rescue teams cannot work for more than 20 minutes at a time, then they have to be replaced, as a spokesman for the fire brigade said on the radio. It is believed that the missing seven Bulgarians, two Greeks and one Turk – all truck drivers – were asleep in their vehicles and were caught there by the flames and trapped.
The fire broke out on Friday night for unknown reasons. 280 people could be rescued within hours. One man miraculously found his way up from the car decks 48 hours after the fire broke out and was unharmed. The ship is now to be towed to a safe harbor and completely unloaded there. dpa
