(Corfu) The Coast Guard told AFP on Sunday that one of the 12 passengers who went missing for three days on a burning Italian boat off the Greek island of Corfu has been found alive and evacuated from the ship.
Released at 6:47 p.m.
The 21-year-old, who claimed to be from Belarus, was found safe and sound in the back of the ship, the same source said.
“Tell me I’m alive!” “, He shouted at the rescuers, according to the daily Proto-theme.
The AFP reporter noted that the young man, nicknamed the “Miracle” by several Greek media outlets, arrived at the port of Corbus wearing only shorts and a T-shirt and flip-flops.
“I’m fine,” he told reporters there before being taken by ambulance to a hospital in Corbu.
Photo by Stomatis codopodis, Associated Press
The traveler was called “miraculous” by many Greek media.
As the boat was towed 3 km north of Corbu, rescue crews discovered its presence. According to Greek authorities, they were able to return to the boat to rescue him.
A Coast Guard official confirmed to AFP that he was one of 12 truck drivers missing at Corfu Beach.
I ‘Euroberry Olympia The Italian company Grimaldi, on its way to Brindisi in Italy, caught fire early Friday morning, two hours after leaving the Greek port of Igoumenitsa, with 290 people on board, including 51 crew members on board.
So far, 279 identified people have been rescued, as well as two illegal Afghan immigrants, raising fears of further disappearances, with migrants often boarding boats illegally linking Greece with Italy.
The Greek Coast Guard told AFP that the 11 missing were truck drivers, seven from Bulgaria, three from Greece and one from Turkey.
“Voices” on the boat
Rescue workers hope the rescued passenger will be able to provide information about the other person who was trapped and missing on the burning boat that saw the thick smoke on Sunday.
Photo by Petros Giancoris, Associated Press
I ‘Euroberry Olympia The fire broke out early Friday morning.
“According to reports, rescue workers are working to rescue four to five surviving passengers,” Skai TV said.
The young man who survived told rescuers that he heard voices from the boat Saturday evening, according to public television ERT.
“I was able to get down to the basement of the boat. I was in my cabin. I went to the last basement. I heard voices. I did not see the others,” he said, according to Iefimerida.
Coast Guard spokesman Nicos Alexio at ERT underlined that the officers were “confident and in this situation this person was able to get back on deck”.
The news of the discovery of the Belarusian national was received with emotion in the port of Gorb, where the relatives of the missing cried tears. According to ERT footage, a woman fell ill.
Photo by Adonis Sportilis, Reuters
Vana Pekiyari Mathieu, a relative of one of the missing, struggles to hold back tears as he waits for news at the port of Corb.
About forty firefighters were also mobilized Sunday to take part in the rescue operation, according to the Greek Fire Service.
“Toxicity”
“The ship is high in heat load and toxicity,” said Costas Katzfados, deputy minister of commerce Marine.
In some places the fire is still burning. The operations are very tricky, ”he told Scoil.
Criticisms of the ship’s safety conditions have been mounting since SaturdayEuroberry Olympia 800 m3 The Italian Ministry of Environment said the fuel was oil and 23 tonnes were “dangerous corrosive substances”.
On Saturday evening, Italy announced that its coast guard had spotted “potentially soft” near the boat in an area with pollution control resources.
The investigation of the Greek Maritime Accident Service has just begun. But according to several coherent announcements, the fire may have started from a truck parked in the hold.
However, many truck drivers complained to the ERT on Saturday that they prefer to sleep in their truck rather than in the overcrowded cabins of boats.
“As far as I know, my father slept in the truck. The boat was in a miserable condition, “said Ilias Gerontidakis, the son of a missing Greek.
With 150 cabins having 50 cabins, “there are not enough cabins […] We had four people sleeping in a cabin “and this person was a driver on the newspaper’s website,” there were insects, it was dirty, there was no security system. ” Proto-theme.
The boat, built in 1995 in accordance with international law, was subjected to a regulatory visit on February 16 that “resulted in a positive outcome,” the Grimaldi team said.
A previous boat fire in this part of the Mediterranean began in December 2014 on the Italian ship Norman Atlantic, which sailed from Patras (Greece) to Ancona (Italy). Thirteen people were killed, including nine passengers.
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