The tragedy on “Norman Atlantic”, which caught on fire at sea near the island of Corfu this morning, claimed its first victim. The spokesman of the Greek Ministry of Maritime, citing information confirmed by the Italian Coast Guard, reported that one man died during the intervention to save his life. According to the information, the unfortunate event occurred when the man slipped and was killed in the attempt to be saved and extracted. The victim was traveling with his wife, who also slipped and fell in the water, but managed to save herself.
Extraction of the passengers from “Norman Atlantic” continues. By now, 156 out of 478 passengers were extracted from the ship and were deployed in three out of seven passenger and cargo ships that are near “Norman Atlantic,” one is on a rescue boat and a few were taken to Lecce.
There are also three Macedonian citizens on the ship. According to the passenger list reported by “Proto Thema”, Macedonians on the ship are Arifi D., Dauti J. and Dauti A. (father and son) who are registered with the code MK. There is still no information whether they are on the ship or were taken to safety.
The rescue mission will continue in the following hours and during the night until the last passenger is extracted. Marine and coastal services hope and are optimistic that they would succeed in safely extracting all the passengers in the next few hours. Darkness increases concerns for the course of the mission, which is already facing problems due to bad weather.
The passengers are rescued with a helicopter. According to the information, the orders are the helicopters to transport 6 people at once. Greece sent two new helicopters from Corfu, but, due to bad weather, they failed to come close to the ship. In an attempt to help, new rescue boats are sent.
The spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Maritime announced that rescue mission continues despite the difficult conditions and, if necessary, it will take all night.
Passengers are struggling with bad weather conditions for more than 10 hours. All of them are on the deck and are struggling with the cold weather and rain on one side and the flames from the basement and garage of the ship from 5 am.
