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Twelve still missing after blaze engulfs Greece-Italy ferry

20 February 2022 01:12 (UTC +04:00)

Twelve people are still missing after a blaze swept through a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy early on Friday, Greek authorities said on Saturday, as firefighters battled for a second day to control the fire and crews towed the vessel closer to the shore, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Reuters live footage showed plumes of smoke pouring out of the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia as firefighters from a nearby vessel sprayed water onto the burning ferry in the Ionian Sea.

A total of 241 passengers and 51 crew were on board when the blaze broke out early on Friday and rescue vessels moved most of the 280 people who were rescued to the nearby island of Corfu.

The 183-metre (600-foot) ferry caught fire en route from Igoumenitsa, a port in Western Greece, to the Italian port of Brindisi, a nine-hour journey.

The missing passengers are from Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Lithuania, the Greek coastguard said, and their relatives faced an agonising wait for news.