Race against time to save the Atlantic on Norman 149 passengers still on board the ferry caught fire Sunday off the coast of Albania. A drowning man said he saw four dead, but to date has confirmed only a victim.
On board the ship there were over 450 people between passengers and crew members. Around 9 in the morning 329 people were retrieved and 149 those still on the ferry, according to the latest update on Twitter Navy. Rescue operations at sea meanwhile continue, coordinated by the Navy ship San Giorgio. Medical and health personnel came on board.
Shipwrecks in bari. In Bari the merchant ship Spirit of Piraeus, Singapore-flagged, with 49 shipwrecked ferry, including four children and two illegal immigrants. In what has been learned, are almost all good though cold and hungry, two people taken to hospital. Other 50 shipwrecked ferry Norman Atlantic hospitalized Salento.
They wept and embraced rescuers 49 castaways arrived in Bari. At the sight of the rescuers boarded, many have cried and thanked for having saved his life. Lo told reporters the prefect of Bari, Antonio Nunziante.
“I saw four people dead, with my own eyes, I’m quite sure, were in front of me,” he said reporters a man of Turkish nationality, just come down from the merchant ship that brought him, along with 48 others shipwrecked ferry Norman Atlantic, in the port of Bari. “On the spear – told reporters the shipwrecked – we had four dead, two men and two women, I think, because in the dark you could not see well. “
” Many people fell overboard unfortunately. I have also seen a dozen people who were on board a spear which then fell into the sea and do not know what happened to them, “continued the man. “We heard yelling” fire, fire “, the fire and the fire in five minutes – says the man – the whole ship was on fire. It was dark and there was a lot of smoke. There was little to be done: many people fainted, we were isolated. ” The man would have to go to Rome, where he would spend the New Year together with friends.
The flames are matches from the garage of the ship . “We’ll burn like rats, we are in danger and do not know how we will resist,” is the dramatic story of who is still on the deck of the ship. The nightmare begins at 4:30 am about twenty miles off the coast of Albania: the ferry, owned by the shipping company Visemar navigation, had departed from Patras and, after a stop in Igoumenitsa, was expected in Ancona at 17 Sunday.
On the ferry, about 180 meters long, when the fire broke out, there were 478 people, including 422 passengers and 56 crew members. 44 Italians – including the commander Argilio Giacomazzi – 54 Turks, 22 Albanians, 18 Germans. And then the French, Swiss, Russians, Bulgarians, Syrians, Afghans and especially the Greeks, who are almost half of those found on the ferry. A power failure prevented him from putting to sea the lifeboats.
A greek is the only victim when ascertained: it is Georgios Doulis, a man who died while trying to reach a lifeboat. His body was recovered and transferred to a patrol boat in Brindisi where they were taken even more seriously wounded four, two who were on board the ship, a Navy Rescue swimmer and a soldier of the Harbour. With helicopters were transferred to Italy also several children and women assisted by doctors and taken to hospital with symptoms of hypothermia, but none of them are in danger of life.
The castaways. There are more than 100 shipwrecked ferry ablaze saved by rescuers in the night: it was said to the foreman SkyTg24 operating Coast Guard, John Pettorino, who explained that 34 were sorties by helicopter to the rescue of passengers . “Our priority – explained Admiral Pettorino – is rescuing people. The weather and the sea are very complicated. ” On board there are still a few spots available.
The Norman Atlantic , which can accommodate up to 836 passengers and 250 cars, was chartered in December by the Greek company Anek Lines to replace the ship Ellenic Spirit, currently under maintenance, for connecting Venice-Igoumenitsa-Patras: the contract will be completed in mid-January. What has sparked the flames will be investigations to clarify; perhaps a short circuit, possibly a problem in one of the 128 truck in the garage, some loads of oil.
“Ship overloaded ‘. Some truckers ferry was overloaded and the “top heavy vehicles was friction with the garage ceiling, it may be that a spark is started from there.” It will always be an investigation to clarify whether there were deficiencies with the doors: inspection carried out 10 days ago by the International Paris Mou had shown a “failure” of the structures that need to prevent a fire from spreading. But the owner of the ship, Carlo Visentini, denies “the problem was but it was quickly resolved. The ferry was fully functioning. “
The fire. The fact is that the fire has spread very quickly reaching the upper decks. The ferry immediately became unmanageable and the commander said abandonment. Despite this edge have managed to drop one lifeboat, which were put in unless forty people. The crew would also be able to contain the fire to the bridge 5, but the high temperatures and above the thick smoke are likely to transform the ferry in a steel coffin for hundreds of people.
” We are on the bridge, we are dying of cold and suffocate from the smoke, the fire is spreading more and more, the floors are hot and I do not know if we’ll make it, “said Yorgos Stiliaras, one of the passengers Greeks on board. “The shoes are merging and can not take away – has added another – the weather is too bad, there is a lot of smoke and we have a lot of difficulty in breathing, do not see anything.”
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, back to Palazzo Chigi, he heard two times the greek prime minister Samaras and received the Foreign Minister Gentiloni. “We are following the story – tweeted – with the maximum involvement of our Navy.” Shortly after 22 in a new tweet, also referred to the clash between merchant before the Adriatic coast, says “Thank you to those who work for hours between Ravenna and #normanatlantic.
Italy is proud of your tenacity! It will be a long night: first thank you! ‘.
Relief difficult. To make it even more difficult relief efforts, coordinated by Italy, even the extreme weather conditions. Throughout the morning of Sunday, the sea force 7-8 waves raised by more than five meters, making it impossible to approach maneuver the ship in flames. In the afternoon the conditions improved slightly but the wind of 35-40 knots and poor visibility forced rescuers to operate only with helicopters. The aircraft of the Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard Italian, all day so have been commuting between the ferry and the ships in the area: the Italian, Greek and Albanian ones and merchant hijacked in the area.
The shipowner The controls who had undergone the Norman Atlantic “have confirmed the status of full functionality” of second ferry Carlo Visentini, owner and holder of Rovigo Visemar Navigation, which owns the ferry on fire. “During the inspections had showed mild malfunction” of one of the doors, but had been “immediately eliminated,” he explains.
Passengers The Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine has informed the passenger list of the ship Norman Atlantic. To board the ship were 422 passengers. The others are: 234 Greeks, one Romanian, two Russians, 6 Austrian, Hungarian 10 2 Swiss, 1 Croatian 8 Georgians, five Syrians, one Swedish, one Canadian, two Ukrainians, one Egyptian, 18 Germans 54 Turks, two Afghans, 22 Albanians 1 Maltese, 7 Bulgarians, three citizens of FYROM, two British, three Dutch, three Belgians, nine French, two Iraqis. Are 56 crew members of various nationalities.
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