Italy unsure over ferry fire survivors

Italian officials said that they are uncertain over how many people remain missing from the North Atlantic car ferry that caught fire off Corfu on Monday.

"We cannot say how many people may be missing,'' Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said on Monday evening, adding that there could have been errors on the passenger list, no-shows at boarding or people getting off at a stopover on the Greek island of Igoumenitsa.

"That is why we are continuing our search effort- we cannot know what the exact number was.”

Lupi said that it was the departure port’s responsibility to ensure that the passenger manifest tallied with the list of those people who were rescued.

Italian navy Admiral Giovanni Pettorino said that 80 of the people rescued from Monday’s tragedy had not been on the passenger list at all. 

Elsewhere, Greek Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said that the passenger list was "possibly inaccurate".

"I strongly doubt that all the names on the list are real," Varvitsiotis told Mega TV. "We have two persons with the same name who turned out to be one person."

The ship was on a night trip from Greece to Italy when it caught fire. At least ten people were found dead and several injured. A rescue mission evacuated over 400 people amid gale-force winds and thick smoke. Survivors gave accounts of passengers trampling over and hitting each other to be the first in line to be taken to safety.

"The jungle law prevailed," Greek passenger Irene Varsioti said. "There was no queue or order. No respect was shown for children."

Some passengers also complained that only one lifeboat had been launched in the water and that none of the crew had been on hand to help people.

However, Captain Argilio Giacomazzi was widely praised for staying on board to see the evacuation through, more than 36 hours after sending out a distress signal.

It is as yet unclear what caused the fire to break out on Sunday on the car deck of the ferry and Italian prosecutors have opened a criminal inquiry.

Over 230 passengers and 34 crew members were Greek nationals, while others came from Italy, Turkey, Albania, Germany, the UK and several other countries.