Stowaways raise fears of more deaths in Adriatic ferry disaster

Two Albanian seamen were among 13 people confirmed killed in a ferry disaster in the Adriatic Sea, as officials warned the discovery of stowaways on board meant the true death toll could be far higher. Greek and Italian authorities were still unable to say with any certainty how many paying passengers were on board the Norman Atlantic when it burst into flames in stormy seas near the island of Corfu on Sunday. And Giuseppe Volpe, the prosecutor in charge of a criminal probe into the disaster, said “it is likely that we will find other victims in the wreckage” after illegal migrants were also found among the survivors. Three have so far been identified — two Afghans and a Syrian, who had requested political asylum — but more are expected to have hidden inside trucks parked on the deck where the fire started.

He just went and sat in the basket, which was clearly designed for children. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

German passenger Ute Kilger, who saw a man barge past women, children and the elderly to ensure he was winched to safety before them

Officially, 427 people, including 56 crew members, were rescued from the flames in an operation described as unprecedented by Italian authorities, well short of the revised total of 475 passengers and crew on board the ship. Passengers’ accounts of being evacuated from the ferry after a terrifying ordeal paint the Norman Atlantic’s crew as being completely unprepared for an emergency. Many have told how it was either thick smoke or other passengers who woke those sleeping, not the crew or alarms, and almost all have said they received no instructions from staff about what to do. The ship’s Italian owner ANEK and its Italian captain all face possible manslaughter charges arising from Volpe’s investigation. Greece also announced its own probe Tuesday.

It stank of petrol. The ship should never have left port in that condition.

Greek passenger Teodora Doulis, one of several who described the car deck as being covered with fuel

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