Death toll from Greek ferry fire now at five

A ferry carrying 500 people caught fire off the Greek island of Corfu, trapping passengers on the top decks as gale-force winds and choppy seas hampered evacuation

The Greek coast guard says the death toll from a fire on board a Greek ferry in the Adriatic between Albania and Italy has increased to five.

 

Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Lagadianos said four more people were found dead today. One Greek man died yesterday after becoming trapped in a lifeboat chute.

Of the 478 passengers and crew on board the ferry, 391 have been rescued so far.

The fire broke out yesterday on a car deck of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, carrying 422 passengers and 56 crew members. Passengers huddled on the vessel's upper decks, pelted by rain and hail and struggling to breathe through the thick smoke, passengers told Greek media by phone.

"We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke," passenger Giorgos Stiliaras told Greek Mega TV.

He recalled people being awakened by "the smell of burning plastic" and that the heat from the fire felt like the floors were "boiling."

Dotty Channing-Williams, mother of ferry passenger Nick Channing-Williams, said she had managed to speak to her son before he and his Greek fiancee were airlifted to safety.