Greece Ferry Fire Death Toll Climbs To Five

Athens, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Feb, 2022 ) :Greece's coastguard on Thursday raised the death toll from an Italian-flagged ferry that caught fire last week to five, saying it was still looking for six missing truck drivers.

The blaze ripped through the Euroferry Olympia last week near the Greek island of Corfu after it left Greece's Igoumenitsa port for the Italian city of Brindisi.

Most of the passengers were swiftly evacuated within an hour, but a number of truckers were unaccounted for.

Firefighters recovered the body of a 58-year-old Greek lorry driver on Sunday.

A second body was found in the ferry's garage on Wednesday evening, after the ship was towed to the port of Astakos on Greece's west coast to allow rescue operations to continue more safely.

Three more bodies were discovered on Thursday.

The latest four victims have yet to be identified, but Greek authorities have said they are missing truck drivers.

Images from public broadcaster ERT showed the charred remains of burnt-out vehicles in the ferry's hold.

Three truck drivers -- a Belarussian, a Bulgarian and a Romanian -- remain in hospital in Corfu with breathing difficulties after being rescued from the stricken ferry.

Among the 281 survivors -- 230 passengers and 51 crew -- were two Afghans who were not on the passenger list, sparking fears that more unregistered travellers could have been on board.