ROMA – 14 would be missing from the appeal. This is what Greek TV maintains, denying the first information according to which the 290 passengers and crew on board the Grimaldi ferry that went in vials this morning on the Igoumenitsa-Brindisi route would all be taken in safe and already disembarked in Corfu.
The flames could be starting from a truck in the ship’s hold. This is what the commander of the ship would have reported to the men of the Guardia di Finanza aboard the patrol boat Monte Sperone which rescued 288 people between crew and passengers. Previously, it seemed that there were only two, both truckers, who were trapped in the garage. This was reported by the Greek television station “Skai”, according to which a team of the Greek coast guard is working to free the two people. Now, however, Greek TV is talking about 14 people missing.
According to information released by the Athens Ministry of Navigation, the ship was carrying a total of 290 people, including passengers and crew. Of these, 21 are Greek (14 passengers and 7 crew members). Furthermore, a passenger with respiratory problems has already been transported aboard a boat to Corfu. A Hydra-class frigate of the Greek Navy and three helicopters, in addition to six boats of the Greek and Italian coastguards, mobilized to rescue the passengers. Most of the passengers were Bulgarian haulers and several children were also aboard the ship. There were also 153 commercial vehicles (including trucks and semi-trailers), as well as 32 vehicles accompanying passengers.
The ferry traveled on the route from Igoumenitsa to Brindisi. The accident off the north coast of Corfu Island, between Greece and Albania. As reported by the Guardia di Finanza in a note, “the ship sailed around 1.20 am from the Greek port of Igoumenitsa towards Brindisi , caught fire while sailing in the Ionian Sea north of Corfu, about 9 miles from the coast “. The passengers rescued by the financial police have already been disembarked in the port of Corfu and will arrive tomorrow morning in Brindisi with a new ship left from Ancona.
“There were very high flames, on board there was panic”. This is the story of the passengers of the Grimaldi Euroferry Olympia ferry, according to what they themselves told the men of the GDF after being rescued by the patrol boat Monte Sperone. “The commander of the ship, when the fire broke out, went around the cabins and gathered the passengers on a single deck – says the commander of the patrol boat Felice Lodovico Simone Cicchetti – then gave the ship abandonment, but evacuation it wasn’t a walk in the park. “
The president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarellathe Commander General of the Finance Police called this morning, Giuseppe Zafaranato congratulate him on the rescue of the passengers of the ship “Euroferry Olimpia”, operated last night by the patrol boat Monte Sperone, asking him to express his appreciation and gratitude to the crew of the patrol boat.
There are no spills of fuel at sea, nor would the stability of the ship appear to be compromised. This was reported by a note from the Grimaldi Group in reference to the fire on board the passenger ship Euroferry Olympia while it was about 10 miles north of the island of Corfu.