ATHENS, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Adverse weather conditions were hampering ongoing international efforts to evacuate hundreds of people from an Italian-flagged ferry that has caught fire off the Greek island of Corfu, officials here said Sunday.
The ferry, named "Norman Atlantic," sent a distress signal while sailing in international waters in the Adriatic Sea, when the crew realized that they could not put out a fire that started at one of the ship's garages, the Greek Coast Guard said.
A total of 478 people, including 422 passengers and 56 crew members, were on board the ferry, which was sailing to Ancona, Italy, via the port of Igoumenitsa in western Greece, a representative of the Igoumenitsa Port Authority told national broadcaster NERIT, raising the numbers initially released.
So far, approximately 50 women and children have already been safely transferred to the "Spirit of Piraeus," Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.
Another 60 passengers have been transferred to the rescue boats as the evacuation operation launched by Greek, Italian and Albanian authorities is still under way with about a dozen speed boats, a cruise ship, a tug vessel and container vessels surrounding the ferry.
Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said in a statement that the Italian side is leading the rescue operation, and a Greek Navy frigate, an Air Force aircraft and five helicopters were dispatched to that area.
The Greek Fire Brigade has also sent forces to assist in extinguishing the fire, but the entire operation was hampered by high winds gusting up to 100 km per hour and packing torrential rain and sleet, Greek authorities said.
Greek Shipping Ministry sources noted that there were also communication problems as the Italian captain and crew could not speak English well.
The "Norman Atlantic" was chartered by Greek managing company ANEK Lines from the Italian Grimaldi Holding.
Rania Fyreou, one of the passengers, said in a telephone call with Greek television channel Mega that people panicked when the alarm went off.
"We were sleeping and woken up by the alarm and the smoke. We put on warm clothes and rushed outside on the deck," she said.
Some panicked passengers jumped into the water and were retrieved by rescue boats, according to local television station SKAI.
"They were terrified of the blazes," a Greek passenger named Esftathios said.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and his Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi, are in constant contact with Greek officials taking part in the operation, said Greek government spokesperson Sophia Voultepsi, stressing that the situation was difficult.
So far, no injuries or people missing have been reported, nor has the information about the nationalities of the people on board been released.
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