Survivor and body found on burning ferry off Greek island

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek emergency workers rescued a Belarussian truck driver Sunday from a burning ferry off the island of Corfu and found the body of a Greek truck driver as they combed the wreckage for missing passengers.

The discoveries left 10 people still unaccounted for.

The survivor, 21, was able to make his way up to the left rear deck on his own, and told rescue workers he heard other voices below.

“The fact that this man succeeded, despite adverse conditions, to exit into the deck and alert the coast guard ... gives us hope that there may be other (survivors),” coast guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told state broadcaster ERT.

The victim was identified as a 58-year-old Greek truck driver by his family.

The Italian-owned Euroferry Olympia, which was carrying more than 290 passengers and crew as well as 153 trucks and 32 cars, caught fire Friday, three hours after it left the northwestern Greek port of Igoumenitsa bound for Brindisi in Italy. The company that operates the ferry said the fire started in a hold where vehicles were parked.

The Greek coast guard and other boats evacuated about 280 people from the ferry to the nearby island of Corfu.

The ferry has been towed to the port of Kassiopi, in northeastern Corfu. Firefighters were still battling the blaze in spots Sunday and a thick smoke still blanketed the ship.

Alexiou said his understanding was that the truck driver hadn't heard any voices just before making his way onto the deck but added “the situation is evolving.” The survivor was taken to a hospital for a medical exam.

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