All remaining passengers have been rescued from a deadly blaze on a car ferry off the coast of Greece, officials said Monday. Eight people died as a result of the blaze and rescue operation. The ferry’s manifest listed 478 passengers and crew and more than 200 vehicles. The Italian Navy said 427 people had been saved by the end of a rescue operation after a fire broke out early on Sunday.
Bad weather had dogged efforts to rescue passengers, some of whom bore signs of injuries and had to be stretchered off the ferry. According to the Italian Navy, only the commander and a handful of rescuers remained on the Norman Atlantic on Monday afternoon. Soon after, the Navy announced the ship’s commander had disembarked.
Two more bodies had been spotted on Monday afternoon, the Italian Coast Guard said in a statement, bringing to seven the number of dead. The retrieval of an eighth body was announced by the Italian Navy shortly after. At least one of the victims died during the risky operation to airlift passengers off the vessel to safety on nearby ships on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. The Italian-flagged ferry, chartered by Greek ferry operator Anek Lines, was sailing between Patros in western Greece to Ancona in Italy when it caught fire.