Cruise ship burned in Greece: hope is slim, but research continues

The Euroferry Olympia, on fire, off the Greek island of Corfu, this Monday, February 21, 2022. AFP - ANGELOS TZORTZINIS

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2 mins

The search continues in difficult conditions, aboard the Italian liner

, hit by a major fire since last Friday, at dawn, off the Greek island of Corfu.

A total of 281 passengers and crew members were evacuated, but ten people - truck drivers - are still missing, while another truck driver officially died in the flames.

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With our correspondent in Athens,

For now, the search work of the forty firefighters deployed on site is complicated by the presence of thick smoke and high heat inside the ferry.

But despite the smoke and the images of charred trucks, the hope of finding survivors on board the

 is not dead.

Other passengers could find themselves in the same situation as this 21-year-old Belarusian driver;

initially trapped, he was evacuated from the smoky ferry on Sunday, about fifty hours after the start of the fire.

At the end of 2014, the conflagration of the

ferry , on this same maritime route between Greece and Italy, had caused the death of at least thirteen people and led to debates on the deficiency of certain safety measures on board the boats. .

A situation that could well happen again after the fire of this ferry from the Italian company Grimaldi.

Officially, no one is allowed to be in the garages during the crossing.

However, in view of the testimonies, it would seem on the contrary frequent that truck drivers sleep in their truck to avoid the cabins, which are small and crowded.

The wife of one of these drivers – of whom we have not heard from – has indeed compared the cabins shared by the truck drivers to “stables”, moreover unsuitable, according to her, to the current pandemic.

Charges rejected by the Italian company.

►To re-read: In Greece, deadly fire on a ferry off the island of Corfu

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