The
evacuation of passengers on the ferry that caught fire off the coast of Greece
is trending. The death toll has risen to seven, Italy's coastguard said on
Monday.
The ferry was
sailing from Patros in western Greece to Ancona in Italy carrying 478
passengers and more than 200 vehicles when a fire broke out in the early hours
of Sunday.
More than 200
people were still trapped on a burning ferry between Italy and Albania on
Monday morning, despite Italian, Greek and Albanian crews working in rough,
freezing conditions through the night to rescue
them. Ships and helicopters fought choppy seas and strong winds in the dark in
a race against time to rescue passengers still left aboard the Italian-flagged
Norman Atlantic. The Italian coastguard said 251 of the 478 people on the ferry
had been evacuated by early Monday.