Crew 'left passengers in lurch'

Ferry death toll climbs to 10 as 427 are rescued from Adriatic Sea

There were no fire alarms at first, no knocks on the door from the crew, just thick, acrid smoke filling cabins and waking passengers on the overnight ferry from Greece to Italy.

In the chaos that followed, passengers said they received virtually no instructions from the crew. The principle of women and children first went out the window, and passengers started pushing and shoving, and came to blows over seats in the lifeboats and helicopter baskets.

"Everyone was trampling on each other to get on to the helicopter," Greek truck driver Christos Perlis said on one of the rescue vessels summoned after the Italian-flagged ferry caught fire in the Adriatic Sea off Albania early on Sunday.

Another Greek passenger, Irene Varsioti, said: "The jungle law prevailed. There was no queue or order. No respect was shown for children.

"The entire crew was criminally unacceptable. There was no alarm. We awoke on our own."

Italian and Greek helicopter rescue crews evacuated the last of the known survivors on Monday, bringing the number rescued to 427.

Ute Kilger, a passenger from Munich, Germany, described how she had witnessed a portly middle-aged man shove past women, children and the elderly to ensure he was winched to safety before them.

"He just went and sat in the basket, which was clearly designed for children. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," the 45-year-old lawyer told Italian media.

However, the death toll climbed to at least 10, and rescuers searched below deck and scoured the surrounding waters for more possible victims amid confusion over how many people had been aboard.

The vessel's operator, Anek Lines, said 475 were on the ferry, but Italian officials said the names on the manifest may have represented just reservations, not actual passengers who boarded.

Admiral Giovanni Pettorino of the Italian navy said 80 of those rescued were not on the list at all, giving credence to suggestions that the ferry may have been carrying immigrants trying to reach Italy illegally.

The blaze broke out on the car deck of the Norman Atlantic while the ferry was traveling from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The Italian military congratulated itself for a remarkable round-the-clock rescue operation in horrendous weather: 75 km/h winds, high seas, choking smoke and the dark of the Adriatic night.

Hundreds of passengers, crew members and two dogs were plucked from the decks in helicopter baskets as the fire raged below. As they waited to be rescued, they were drenched by cold winter rain and firefighting hoses, while their feet burned from the flames below.

Some passengers suffered hypothermia, others mild carbon monoxide poisoning, but the first big group to reach land - 49 people who came ashore in Bari just after dawn Monday - walked off their rescue ship on their own, exhausted and draped in blankets to ward off the cold.

Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi hailed the Italian ferry captain, Argilio Giacomazzi, for having stayed on board to see the evacuation through.

"As an old seaman, I offer my deferential salute to the ship captain for having done his job with great dignity and competence," De Giorgi said. "He was last off, as a captain should be."

However, passengers had no words of praise for the mostly Italian crew, complaining they were left to fend for themselves.

British show-jumper Nick Channing-Williams told Sky News that he heard an alarm at 5 am, well after the flames had taken hold.

AP - AFP

(China Daily 12/31/2014 page11)