Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
An injured passenger is being eased to a stretcher as she and some 40 of the survivors of the Norman Atlantic ferry fire, finally stepped ashore, in the port of Taranto, Italy, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. They arrived by one of the cargo ships that took aboard passengers from the flaming, smoke-shrouded ferry in the first hours after the blaze down in the car deck sent people, shaken out of their sleep, to scrambling for their lives and take shelter — in freezing cold, pelted by rain and buffeted by gale-force wind on the top, uncovered deck. (AP Photo/Cosimo Calabrese)
Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
Some 40 of the survivors of the Norman Atlantic ferry fire, finally stepped ashore, in the port of Taranto, Italy, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. They arrived by one of the cargo ships that took aboard passengers from the flaming, smoke-shrouded ferry in the first hours after the blaze down in the car deck sent people, shaken out of their sleep, to scrambling for their lives and take shelter — in freezing cold, pelted by rain and buffeted by gale-force wind on the top, uncovered deck. (AP Photo/Cosimo Calabrese)
Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
Athanasios Tsopanidis wipes his tears as his brother Giorgos Tsopanidis, left, a rescued passenger from the fire-struck ferry Norman Atlantic speaks to the media after arriving at Athens International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. About 107 passengers from the Norman Atlantic arrived in Greece with a charter flight. Italian authorities warned that more bodies will likely be found when the blackened hulk of a Greek ferry is towed to Italy, as part of a criminal investigation into the fire that engulfed the ship at sea, killing at least 11 of the more than 400 people on board. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
Rescued passengers from the fire-struck ferry Norman Atlantic hug their relatives as others wait for their family members after arriving at Athens International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. About 107 passengers from the Norman Atlantic arrived in Greece with a charter flight. Italian authorities warned that more bodies will likely be found when the blackened hulk of a Greek ferry is towed to Italy, as part of a criminal investigation into the fire that engulfed the ship at sea, killing at least 11 of the more than 400 people on board. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
Rescued passengers from the fire-struck ferry Norman Atlantic greet their relatives after arriving at Athens International Airport on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. About 107 passengers from the Norman Atlantic arrived in Greece with a charter flight. Italian authorities warned that more bodies will likely be found when the blackened hulk of a Greek ferry is towed to Italy, as part of a criminal investigation into the fire that engulfed the ship at sea, killing at least 11 of the more than 400 people on board. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
Norman Atlantic ferry captain Argilio Giacomazzi, right, is flanked by his brother Marcello and his daughter Giulia, outside his home in Campiglia, near La Spezia, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. The Italian captain of the Italian-made ferry, which was operated by a Greek company, was questioned in the southern port of Bari by prosecutors for more than five hours Wednesday. Stormy weather in the Adriatic Sea thwarted efforts Wednesday to tow the fire-ravaged ferry to Italy so authorities can investigate the blaze that killed at least 11 people and search the ship for more possible dead. (AP Photo/Ansa/Riccardo Dalle Luche)
Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
Norman Atlantic ferry captain Argilio Giacomazzi talks with journalists outside his home in Campiglia, near La Spezia, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2015. The Italian captain of the Italian-made ferry, which was operated by a Greek company, was questioned in the southern port of Bari by prosecutors for more than five hours Wednesday. Stormy weather in the Adriatic Sea thwarted efforts Wednesday to tow the fire-ravaged ferry to Italy so authorities can investigate the blaze that killed at least 11 people and search the ship for more possible dead. (AP Photo/Ansa/Riccardo Dalle Luche)
Posted: Thursday, January 1, 2015 1:13 pm
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Updated: 1:45 pm, Thu Jan 1, 2015.
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BRINDISI, Italy (AP) — Greece and Italy have issued widely different figures for how many people are still not accounted for in the ferry fire that killed at least 11 people in the Adriatic Sea.
The numbers ranged from as many as 98, according to Italian prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe, to 18, according to the Greek Merchant Marine Ministry. Greece says Italy’s list is full of duplications and misspellings but the discrepancy could not be immediately explained since the prosecutor’s office was closed for the New Year holiday.
A tug began towing the fire-ravaged ferry across wind-whipped seas to Italy on Thursday afternoon. Giuseppe Barretta, owner of the tug boat company, told The Associated Press the operation started near the coast of Albania, where the Norman Atlantic ferry had been stranded after Sunday’s pre-dawn fire, and estimated it could take 15 hours, depending on weather.
Earlier, the Italian Coast Guard said waves in the region were as high as 5 meters (16 1/2 feet) and winds were blowing at more than 40 knots (46 mph).
Once the ferry arrives in the Italian port of Brindisi, Italian authorities will inspect it, searching for any other possible bodies.
“We’ll only have an exact number (of victims) when the wreckage can be inspected,” said Cmdr. Floriana Segreto of the Italian Coast Guard. A sea-and-air search of the water around the ship continued as the ferry was being secured for towing, she said.
The Italian Coast Guard said 477 people were rescued from the ferry. That figure, plus the 11 dead, would mean at least 488 people had been onboard.
That’s more than the 474 people Greek officials said were on the register — leading to questions about Italy’s rescue tally or suggestions the ferry also carried an unknown number of unregistered migrants.
Italy rescued or discovered some 170,000 migrants and asylum seekers at sea last year as they tried to slip into Europe.
The Norman Atlantic’s captain made his first comments to reporters Thursday outside his home near La Spezia, in northwestern Italy. Capt. Argilio Giacomazzi has been praised for being, in line with navigation rules, the last to be evacuated from the stricken ferry.
“Heroes are useless. We must think about those not with us anymore, those who died,” Giacomazzi said. “We did our best with the help of God. We did our best.”
The ferry captain was questioned about the fire and the evacuation for more than five hours Wednesday by Bari prosecutors but he has given no details on that.
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D’Emilio reported from Rome. Nicholas Paphitis and Demetris Nellas contributed from Athens.
© 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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- Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
- Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
- Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
- Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
- Greece, Italy vary wildly on ferry missing numbers
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Thursday, January 1, 2015 1:13 pm.
Updated: 1:45 pm.
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