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| Ferry fire: at least 10 dead and dozens feared missing after rescue ends | Ferry fire: at least 10 dead and dozens feared missing after rescue ends |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| A 33-hour-long operation to save almost 500 passengers and crew from the stricken Norman Atlantic ferry wrapped up on Monday night amid fears that the final death toll could prove much higher than the ten fatalities confirmed by the Italian and Greek coastguards. | A 33-hour-long operation to save almost 500 passengers and crew from the stricken Norman Atlantic ferry wrapped up on Monday night amid fears that the final death toll could prove much higher than the ten fatalities confirmed by the Italian and Greek coastguards. |
| Italy’s defence minister, Roberta Pinotti, said 427 people had been rescued from the ship, which caught fire early on Sunday. The manifest contained 478 names, apparently leaving 43 unaccounted for. | Italy’s defence minister, Roberta Pinotti, said 427 people had been rescued from the ship, which caught fire early on Sunday. The manifest contained 478 names, apparently leaving 43 unaccounted for. |
| Maurizio Lupi, the Italian transport minister, said several of the people who were saved did not figure on the list, suggesting even more could have died. Prosecutors who opened two inquiries into the disaster in the ports of Brindisi and Bari were reportedly putting the number of missing at 38. | Maurizio Lupi, the Italian transport minister, said several of the people who were saved did not figure on the list, suggesting even more could have died. Prosecutors who opened two inquiries into the disaster in the ports of Brindisi and Bari were reportedly putting the number of missing at 38. |
| The long hours during which the ferry was adrift and ablaze in the Adriatic brought out heroism and baseness alike: at one extreme, the Italian and Greek helicopter rescue crews who worked through the night battling winds gusting up to 40 knots (46mph); at the other, men alleged to have barged ahead of – and in some cases assaulted – women in an effort to be rescued first. | The long hours during which the ferry was adrift and ablaze in the Adriatic brought out heroism and baseness alike: at one extreme, the Italian and Greek helicopter rescue crews who worked through the night battling winds gusting up to 40 knots (46mph); at the other, men alleged to have barged ahead of – and in some cases assaulted – women in an effort to be rescued first. |
| Some of those saved from the ship gave vivid accounts of the terror and misery aboard. Nick Channing-Williams, 37, a British show-jumper who trains young riders in Greece, said he wondered at times whether he and his Greek fiancee, Regina Theoffili, would come through the ordeal alive. | Some of those saved from the ship gave vivid accounts of the terror and misery aboard. Nick Channing-Williams, 37, a British show-jumper who trains young riders in Greece, said he wondered at times whether he and his Greek fiancee, Regina Theoffili, would come through the ordeal alive. |
| Theoffili told the Guardian she heard a bang early in the morning on Sunday, but did not think much of it until the ship started to smell of burning. Then there was an alarm. | Theoffili told the Guardian she heard a bang early in the morning on Sunday, but did not think much of it until the ship started to smell of burning. Then there was an alarm. |
| On the car deck, a fire that would cripple the Norman Atlantic was fast raging out of control. “We ran upstairs, leaving everything behind us, thinking we could return, but then we saw the fire was so big, we could see the flames. We could only stand on the deck and became soaking wet,” she said. | On the car deck, a fire that would cripple the Norman Atlantic was fast raging out of control. “We ran upstairs, leaving everything behind us, thinking we could return, but then we saw the fire was so big, we could see the flames. We could only stand on the deck and became soaking wet,” she said. |
| “The flames were huge and the cars were on fire,” Channing-Williams told Sky News. “It was so hot we could only stand in the rain.” | “The flames were huge and the cars were on fire,” Channing-Williams told Sky News. “It was so hot we could only stand in the rain.” |
| Many in Italy were keen to see in the ferry’s Italian captain, Argilio Giacomazzi, the last man to leave his ship, the hero of the hour. Social media were alive with comparisons between the shaven-headed 62-year-old skipper and Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, the liner that wrecked off the island of Giglio almost three years ago, who left his ship long before the evacuation was completed and is now on trial for multiple manslaughter. | Many in Italy were keen to see in the ferry’s Italian captain, Argilio Giacomazzi, the last man to leave his ship, the hero of the hour. Social media were alive with comparisons between the shaven-headed 62-year-old skipper and Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, the liner that wrecked off the island of Giglio almost three years ago, who left his ship long before the evacuation was completed and is now on trial for multiple manslaughter. |
| Prosecutors will nevertheless want answers over claims by several passengers that the alarm was given too late, and that the crew were unprepared for an emergency. | |
| Christos Perlis, a 32-year-old Greek lorry driver, told the Associated Press that the alarm sounded when most of the passengers had been driven from their cabins by smoke. He said there were no crew members in sight to direct passengers. | Christos Perlis, a 32-year-old Greek lorry driver, told the Associated Press that the alarm sounded when most of the passengers had been driven from their cabins by smoke. He said there were no crew members in sight to direct passengers. |
| Investigators will also be seeking to find out why so few liferafts were launched from the Norman Atlantic. Speaking from hospital in Brindisi, a Turkish passenger, Aylin Akamac, told the news agency Anadolu that only three were available. | Investigators will also be seeking to find out why so few liferafts were launched from the Norman Atlantic. Speaking from hospital in Brindisi, a Turkish passenger, Aylin Akamac, told the news agency Anadolu that only three were available. |
| Regina Theoffili said that as the day wore on “there were little boats which came round to help us, but the weather was so bad they could not approach. Nobody could do anything.”Channing-Williams, who was pictured on TV covered in soot and grease, described how he and other passengers tried to tie a tow rope from tugboats on to the front of the ferry but gave up after failing for a third time. As the 26,900-tonne Norman Atlantic drifted towards the Albanian coast, nudged by south-westerly winds, the rescue services in Italy and Greece decided they had no option but to order helicopter sorties to take the passengers off in pairs. | Regina Theoffili said that as the day wore on “there were little boats which came round to help us, but the weather was so bad they could not approach. Nobody could do anything.”Channing-Williams, who was pictured on TV covered in soot and grease, described how he and other passengers tried to tie a tow rope from tugboats on to the front of the ferry but gave up after failing for a third time. As the 26,900-tonne Norman Atlantic drifted towards the Albanian coast, nudged by south-westerly winds, the rescue services in Italy and Greece decided they had no option but to order helicopter sorties to take the passengers off in pairs. |
| Antonio Laneve, a 44-year-old pilot, said: “In 20 years of flying I have never seen anything like it. The ship was enveloped in flamesThey were almost everywhere.” | Antonio Laneve, a 44-year-old pilot, said: “In 20 years of flying I have never seen anything like it. The ship was enveloped in flamesThey were almost everywhere.” |
| He told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that at first people were more frightened of being winched into a helicopter than of staying aboard the ferry. But as night fell, misgivings turned to panic. Christos Perlis said he and another man tried to impose order. “First children, then women and then men,” he said. “But the men, they started hitting us so they could get on first.” | He told the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that at first people were more frightened of being winched into a helicopter than of staying aboard the ferry. But as night fell, misgivings turned to panic. Christos Perlis said he and another man tried to impose order. “First children, then women and then men,” he said. “But the men, they started hitting us so they could get on first.” |
| His account was borne out by Dimitra Theodossiou, a Greek soprano who had been on her way to Rimini for a production of Verdi’s opera Nabucco. | His account was borne out by Dimitra Theodossiou, a Greek soprano who had been on her way to Rimini for a production of Verdi’s opera Nabucco. |
| She said some of the men had been put below to give precedence to women and children. “But they climbed up and punched and tugged and pulled you out of the way, elbowing their way to safety. It was very ugly. I shall never forget it.”Major Lanete described a scene when a mother reached his helicopter with a baby in her arms and told them: “There are still two of my children aboard. They too are little. I beg you. Go back and take them.” But, he said, “the helicopter has its limits. We couldn’t load it any more.” | She said some of the men had been put below to give precedence to women and children. “But they climbed up and punched and tugged and pulled you out of the way, elbowing their way to safety. It was very ugly. I shall never forget it.”Major Lanete described a scene when a mother reached his helicopter with a baby in her arms and told them: “There are still two of my children aboard. They too are little. I beg you. Go back and take them.” But, he said, “the helicopter has its limits. We couldn’t load it any more.” |