11 missing in Greek ferry fire after hundreds rescued — including two who were trapped for hours

There were conflicting reports about whether any of the other missing 11 might still be on board.

The fire broke out on the Euroferry Olympia several hours after it had departed the port of Igoumenitsa, en route to the Italian city of Brindisi, in what was supposed to be a nine-hour journey. The cause of the fire was not immediately known, and weather conditions were good.

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Witnesses, speaking to Greek television outlets, said the fire began around 4 a.m. and that crew quickly tried to alert passengers and bring them to the deck. Passengers were given life jackets and asked to descend steps into rescue boats that crew members had lowered into the water; nobody jumped directly into the sea. From there, coast guard vessels and other nearby ships came to gather the passengers and crew and take them to shore.

A video taken before sunrise and shared by several Greek news outlets showed fire raging across much of the 600-foot ferry, as one of the crew members said, “Mayday, mayday.”

The ferry — part of the Grimaldi Lines group, which operates a network of routes across the Mediterranean — was also carrying some 180 cars and trucks, according to Italy’s ANSA news agency.

One passenger, speaking to the Greek national broadcaster ERT, said that there was a “domino of explosions” as the vehicles caught fire.

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Subsequent helicopter footage released by Greece’s coast guard showed the upper deck of the ferry almost totally charred, with smoke still billowing.

The incident Friday had some echoes to a 2014 ferry fire in the Adriatic Sea, in which 452 people were rescued and 11 bodies recovered. Tugboats later hauled the hulk of that vessel to Brindisi, the same port where the Euroferry Olympia had been headed.

Grimaldi, the ferry operator, said in a statement that it was offering “complete assistance” to those who had been rescued.

It said there was no detectable fuel spills or environmental damage that resulted from the fire. The operator said the vessel had undergone an inspection two days earlier that yielded a “positive” outcome.

Labropoulou reported from Athens.