Norman Atlantic’s ferry fire death toll rises to 10 with many passengers missing

#NormanAtlantic #ferryfire #Adriatic The death toll in the ferry of Norman Atlantic that caught fire in the Adriatic has gone up to 10 with many more reported missing. The Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi has confirmed that a total of 427 people had been winched to safety by helicopter in the course of a 24-hour rescue operation carried out in spite of inclement weather conditions in an unusually fierce winter storm.
It seems 49 evacuees were taken to the Italian port of Bari by a Greek merchant ship that had been part of a multinational flotilla involved in the rescue operation. The complete evacuation was over nearly 36 hours after the fire broke out on the car deck and left the large vessel drifting dangerously. The car deck was covered by a film of leaked fuel, that is what some witnesses have recounted.
Regarding missing passengers – it is not known whether they had met a watery grave or otherwise died unnoticed or whether the ill-fated Norman Atlantic's manifest lists were inaccurate. The number unaccounted is 41 as per the manifest of the Greek operators of the ferry. Therefore, the Italian navy was continuing to search for bodies around the stricken ferry, which remained in waters close to Albania hours after nightfall.