Disaster on a ship full of passengers and cars off the Greek coast. The Euroferry Olympia ferry caught fire tonight and a mass evacuation was required. Among the people on board were dozens of Bulgarians – truck drivers and families with children.
Our compatriots filmed the evacuation. Eight Bulgarians are unknown at this stage, the Foreign Ministry said. The owner of the company, whose more than 30 trucks remain on the burning ferry, also spoke to NOVA.
They rescued the two drivers blocked on the burning ferry
The ferry fire broke out around 4 am in the Ionian Sea. The ship was traveling from Greece to Italy, and the accident happened near Fr. Corfu. There were nearly 300 people on board, of which 127 were Bulgarians, and there were children.
The cause of the fire is still unclear, but it is known that it started from the cargo compartment of the ferry.
Rumen Cholakov and Rumen Metodiev are just two of the Bulgarians who are witnessing the fiery hell on the ferry “Euroferi Olympia”.
“At 4 without 20, the ship’s crew woke us up urgently to get up and get out. It turned out that there was a fire, but there was smoke, serious smoke, “Cholakov said.
“He had a baby, children aged 10 and 12,” Metodiev added.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 8 Bulgarians are unknown after the ferry fire
In about 40 minutes, the ferry crew managed to evacuate them, our compatriots say.
“They put us in boats in a very disciplined way, let us go into the sea, and when we moved away from the ship we saw that everything was burning. Even the trucks on top were a great hell. I felt fear when I saw what could happen, “said Cholakov.
The documents of most of the international drivers were burned in the fire. “Many of their colleagues’ phones burned out with the trucks,” Cholakov added.
On the way to Italy on the ferry were 33 trucks owned by a Plovdiv transport company. The vehicles and the goods were destroyed. The damage to the company is several million euros, says the owner.
“The rough estimate is between 5m and 10m euros. Everything has insurance. This is a huge tragedy – we must save human lives, no one is thinking about the damage at the moment “, Filipov is categorical.
“I am very grateful to the team for not panicking, because if they had panicked, it would have been a great tragedy for sure,” said Cholakov.
The rescued passengers were transported to the island. Corfu and are accommodated in a hotel. The owner of the ferry claims that the fire broke out in one of the garages, and the reaction of the crew was immediate.
“The information we have from the ship’s captain is that the fire broke out in the garage. We assume the fire started from one of the trucks. Of course, this is initial information and we need to verify the facts, “said Grimaldi Lines spokesman Paul Cyprianou.
“I told my wife and children what had happened. Everything is fine, it only takes a little patience, we are fine, there is nothing else we can do. These things happen. We were in the middle of the sea, you can’t play with fire, said a Greek.
“The worst thing is that the cars on the ferry are glued to each other and there is no way to evacuate,” said a man.
“The passengers are mostly from the Balkans. These are people who travel between Greece and Italy, and most of them are Bulgarians, Romanians, there are also Turks. Of course, there are other nationalities such as Greeks and Italians, “Cyprian added.
According to the latest information on Greek television, there are three Bulgarians blocked on the ferry.
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