At least one dead, one injured as stormy weather hinders ferry rescue
Digital Reporter
Sunday, December 28, 2014, 12:55 PM - The Italian Coast Guard says at least one person is dead and another injured in an ongoing fire aboard a ferry in the Adriatic.
The fire broke out in the car deck of the ship, which is carrying 478 people from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy.
The Associated Press says both the injured man and the fatality are being transported to Italy by helicopter.
The Italian Defence Ministry said 165 of the 478 people on the ferry had been rescued by Sunday evening, more than 14 hours after the fire erupted.
The weather has been making rescue difficult, with 90 km/h winds and very choppy seas, officials said.
The conditions were so bad that rescue ships and aircraft from Greece and Italy struggled to reach the ferry. The Associated Press says merchant ships lined up nearby to mitigate the effects of the waves enough for rescuers to move people out. Sky News reports an Albanian tugboat is preparing to to approach the ship and tow it to that country's port of Durres.
Several passengers managed to contact family and friends, as well as some Greek TV stations, before communications were cut off, ostensibly to smoothe rescue efforts.
WATCH BELOW: Dramatic aerial rescue of a woman and her two little kids pulled from a burning ferry off the coast of Greece.
MISSING PLANE: We have ongoing coverage of the missing AirAsia flight here.
