Fourth body recovered from Euroferry Olympia; seven missing

Rescue crews have recovered a fourth body from a ferry that caught fire while sailing from Greece to Italy last week, Greek authorities said on Thursday.

The body was found in the ferry’s third garage, they said, bringing the total number of unaccounted passengers to seven. Earlier authorities said they had recovered another body in the rescue operation.

The man, whose identity could not be immediately confirmed, was among 10 passengers – all Bulgarian, Turkish and Greek citizens – listed as missing.

The Euroferry Olympia was on its way to the Italian port of Brindisi from Igoumenitsa in Greece when it was engulfed by flames off the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea last Friday.

Tug boats towed the burning ferry slowly to the port of Astakos in western mainland Greece to continue the search of those missing.

Many of the passengers were truck owners or drivers transporting goods through Europe. At least 281 out of 292 passengers and crew have been rescued. 

[Reuters, Kathimerini]