Hundreds rescued after ferry catches fire in Greece

Dramatic footage reveals a passenger ferry engulfed in flames in north-western Greece.

The coastguard stated 239 passengers and 51 crew members had been on board the Italy sure vessel when it set hearth within the early hours of Friday.

Most of them had boarded rescue vessels transferring them to the port of the island of Corfu.

There have been no fast experiences of deaths or extreme accidents. 

In keeping with the Athens Information Company, one individual with respiration issues had been taken to the hospital following the hearth on Euroferry Olympia.

A video uploaded on Greek information web site Proto Thema confirmed the 183-metre (600ft) ship engulfed in flames and large plumes of smoke.

‘Could Day’ was blasting from audio system.

The ferry had sailed from Igoumenitsa, the biggest port in western Greece, and was headed to the Italian port of Brindisi, about 9 hours away.

The hearth, the reason for which was not instantly identified, broke out close to the island of Corfu within the Ionian Sea.

Greater than 280 individuals have been evacuated from the ferry in northwestern Greece. (AP)

Passengers who had been crusing on the Italian-flagged Euroferry Olympia (Getty)

‘We had been woken up round 4:20 a.m. Inside an hour we had left the ship… We had been saved by the crew, which acted quick,’ one of many passengers informed Skai TV by way of phone.

The ferry is a part of the fleet of group Grimaldi Traces and has a capability of as much as 560 passengers, based on the corporate’s web site.

Grimaldi Traces spokesman Paul Kyprianou stated the reason for the hearth was nonetheless below investigation however there have been indications it began from the ship’s maintain.

He added: ‘Injury is extreme as a result of regardless of the efforts the crew was unable to extinguish the hearth.’

No less than three coastguard vessels and one Italian monetary police vessel had been concerned within the rescue operation.

Ship monitoring knowledge offered by Refinitiv Eikon confirmed the Euroferry Olympia performing a U-turn northwest of the North Corfu channel.

In 2014, 10 individuals had been killed when a automobile ferry carrying 466 passengers and crew caught hearth whereas crusing from Greece to Italy.