Berliner Boersenzeitung - Greek rescuers find first ferry blaze victim

EUR -
AED 4.154433
AFN 79.021035
ALL 98.079632
AMD 433.215392
ANG 2.024283
AOA 1037.755061
ARS 1295.64916
AUD 1.761283
AWG 2.035957
AZN 1.928643
BAM 1.956816
BBD 2.281185
BDT 137.611461
BGN 1.958535
BHD 0.426459
BIF 3362.071605
BMD 1.131087
BND 1.459539
BOB 7.807227
BRL 6.399014
BSD 1.129787
BTN 97.096422
BWP 15.246581
BYN 3.69732
BYR 22169.312469
BZD 2.269328
CAD 1.568156
CDF 3240.565539
CHF 0.934437
CLF 0.027839
CLP 1068.323631
CNY 8.146658
CNH 8.148088
COP 4719.744827
CRC 574.19818
CUC 1.131087
CUP 29.973815
CVE 110.32229
CZK 24.939309
DJF 201.181805
DKK 7.459951
DOP 66.684629
DZD 149.984405
EGP 56.434924
ERN 16.966311
ETB 153.078663
FJD 2.563779
FKP 0.841287
GBP 0.842773
GEL 3.099028
GGP 0.841287
GHS 13.161544
GIP 0.841287
GMD 81.438043
GNF 9787.082407
GTQ 8.672504
GYD 236.367521
HKD 8.851155
HNL 29.408668
HRK 7.535985
HTG 147.836771
HUF 403.656823
IDR 18476.425311
ILS 4.064591
IMP 0.841287
INR 97.235453
IQD 1480.068596
IRR 47647.05547
ISK 144.598505
JEP 0.841287
JMD 179.533231
JOD 0.801936
JPY 162.193419
KES 146.091137
KGS 98.913508
KHR 4522.448454
KMF 491.456889
KPW 1018.013186
KRW 1562.868701
KWD 0.347085
KYD 0.941468
KZT 572.217151
LAK 24420.357578
LBP 101231.106534
LKR 338.205629
LRD 225.952342
LSL 20.369578
LTL 3.339806
LVL 0.684183
LYD 6.172205
MAD 10.43812
MDL 19.619188
MGA 5077.524519
MKD 61.557987
MMK 2375.118165
MNT 4045.87112
MOP 9.106928
MRU 44.728227
MUR 51.441942
MVR 17.486672
MWK 1958.973992
MXN 21.93936
MYR 4.835436
MZN 72.288224
NAD 20.369578
NGN 1798.772923
NIO 41.571588
NOK 11.518078
NPR 155.35124
NZD 1.915004
OMR 0.435454
PAB 1.129772
PEN 4.155258
PGK 4.631405
PHP 62.964806
PKR 318.599848
PLN 4.24669
PYG 9010.679223
QAR 4.129444
RON 5.057657
RSD 117.280904
RUB 90.004719
RWF 1618.404663
SAR 4.242621
SBD 9.445447
SCR 16.080982
SDG 679.215568
SEK 10.85561
SGD 1.460228
SHP 0.888857
SLE 25.697767
SLL 23718.336865
SOS 645.62671
SRD 41.454601
STD 23411.22492
SVC 9.885133
SYP 14706.527379
SZL 20.366576
THB 37.11084
TJS 11.506621
TMT 3.964461
TND 3.379855
TOP 2.649117
TRY 44.012532
TTD 7.678988
TWD 33.956941
TZS 3051.110653
UAH 46.896053
UGX 4125.142176
USD 1.131087
UYU 46.994404
UZS 14617.590878
VES 107.279707
VND 29381.691089
VUV 137.13534
WST 3.046971
XAF 656.289106
XAG 0.034515
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.05682
XDR 0.814613
XOF 656.297814
XPF 119.331742
YER 275.815455
ZAR 20.3736
ZMK 10181.139561
ZMW 30.815684
ZWL 364.209672
  • CMSC

    -0.0500

    22

    -0.23%

  • CMSD

    -0.0300

    21.76

    -0.14%

  • BCC

    -0.3550

    86.975

    -0.41%

  • GSK

    -0.0100

    38.53

    -0.03%

  • RIO

    -0.4400

    61.54

    -0.71%

  • BTI

    -0.0400

    44.42

    -0.09%

  • BP

    -0.3430

    28.537

    -1.2%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    10.91

    -0.09%

  • JRI

    -0.0550

    12.665

    -0.43%

  • SCS

    -0.0100

    10

    -0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0500

    21.42

    -0.23%

  • VOD

    0.0350

    10.455

    +0.33%

  • AZN

    0.0700

    69.75

    +0.1%

  • RELX

    -0.4400

    54.66

    -0.8%

  • RBGPF

    4.2000

    67.2

    +6.25%

  • NGG

    -0.6800

    72.89

    -0.93%

Greek rescuers find first ferry blaze victim

Greek rescuers find first ferry blaze victim

Rescuers searching a burning ferry off the Greek island of Corfu on Sunday recovered the body of a trucker, the first confirmed fatality, as a 21-year-old Belarussian man was found alive three days after the blaze began.

Text size:

The 58-year-old Greek victim was one of 11 truck drivers -- seven Bulgarians, three Greeks and one Turk -- who had been unaccounted for on Sunday, three days after the fire struck, the Greek Coastguard told AFP.

Fire chief Dimitris Kontogiannis, who is coordinating the rescue operation, told Alpha tv on Sunday evening that the search for survivors would continue throughout the night.

On Sunday morning, 50 hours after the fire broke out, a man spotted on the stern of the stricken vessel was rescued alive.

The ferry was 1.5 miles (about two kilometres) off the northern part of Corfu, the coastguard said.

The smiling Belarussian was taken to Corfu on a coastguard boat wearing flip flops and put in an ambulance, television footage showed.

"I'm fine", he told journalists before being transported to hospital where he is expected to stay at least until tomorrow.

"Tell me I'm alive," the truck driver, had told rescuers, according to the Proto Thema news website.

"I was in my cabin. I went to the lower deck. I heard voices. I did not see others," the survivor told rescuers and doctors in the hospital where he was treated.

The news of the man's "miraculous" survival, according to Greek media, had raised hopes further lives might be saved.

"The ship may still have safe parts for the passengers," Andreas Korikis, who helped with the rescue on Friday told Athens News Agency (ANA).

"As we saw, one of them came out and the hope lives on. The search continues but in some places the access is impossible."

According to the fire brigade, at least 40 firemen were deployed in the area on Sunday morning to help with rescue efforts. Ten people now remain missing.

"The thermal load and the toxicity on the vessel remain high. In some areas, fire is still burning. The operation is really delicate," shipping deputy minister, Costas Katsafados told Skai.

- 'Miserable' conditions -

The blaze broke out on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia late Thursday as it sailed from Igoumenitsa in Greece to Brindisi in Italy, with nearly 300 people aboard.

Rescuers had managed to save 280 passengers on Friday, evacuating them to Corfu.

The man rescued on Sunday was one of those drivers, the coastguard said.

The vessel was officially carrying 239 passengers and 51 crew, as well as 153 trucks and trailers and 32 passenger vehicles, the Grimaldi company has said.

But the coastguard has said two of those rescued were Afghans not on the manifest, sparking fears that more undocumented passengers could also be missing.

The missing truckers reportedly slept in their vehicles because cabins on the vessel were overcrowded.

Ilias Gerontidakis, the son of a missing Greek trucker, told the Proto Thema online newspaper the Olympia was "miserable from every point of view".

"It had bed bugs, it was dirty, it had no security systems," he said as he waited at the port for news.

"It had 150 lorries inside. Normally it should have 70 to 75 cabins, but it only has 50. They force us to sleep four people in a cabin", he said.

"My father, from what I was told, slept in the truck."

The vessel owner Grimaldi rejected the accusations, saying in a statement on Sunday that its ships, cabins and public spaces, are "regularly disinfected" and "the inspection of the Greek authorities on February 16, 2022 in the port of Igoumenitsa had satisfying results".

It added that its electronic booking system prevents overbooking and that no passenger is allowed on the vehicle decks.

Grimaldi added that "the 77 cabins (308 beds) and the 409 folding seats could easily accommodate the 239 passengers for a journey of nine hours".

- Agony -

News of the rescue of the Belarussian rippled through the relatives of those still missing who have an agonising wait in the port of Corfu.

Ert showed emotional scenes of a woman being carried away after fainting while others pleaded with the rescuers to hurry.

"He is alive, I tell you. He is alive. Do what you can. Please. They will not be able to live any longer…," Vana Bekiari, the wife of a missing Greek truck driver told ANA.

The last shipboard fire in the Adriatic occurred in December 2014 on the Italian ferry Norman Atlantic. Thirteen people died in that blaze.

(P.Werner--BBZ)