Photo courtesy of Reuters
Rescue operations are underway after a fire broke out on the car deck of the Norman Atlantic ferry early Sunday, the BBC reported. The ship was en route from Patras, Greece to Ancona, Italy in the Adriatic Sea when the conflagration started 40 nautical miles northwest of Corfu, Greece. Boats and helicopters are at the scene evacuating the 478 passengers, but are hampered by high winds and rough seas.
"This is a complicated rescue mission... The visibility is poor and the weather conditions are difficult, but we are confident because there are a good number of ships in the area," Greece Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.
"On the lower deck, where the lifeboats are, our shoes were starting to melt from the heat," a passenger told Greek TV station Mega.
A Norman Atlantic cook called his wife and conveyed desperation. "I cannot breathe, we are all going to burn like rats-God save us," he said.
Most of the passengers are Greeks, but there are also Italians, Turks, Albanians, Germans, and Brits. Ferry travel is a major form of transportation in the region, to travel between countries, as well as to the hundreds of Grecian isles.
UPDATE: CNN reports 1 dead and 2 injured.
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