There is the first confirmed victim in the fire that broke out last Friday on board the Grimaldi Lines ferry headed from Corfu to Brindisi.
It is a 58-year-old Greek truck driver found dead and charred inside his truck, the Fire Department said. His son identified him thanks to a pendant and a tattoo.
Ten passengers are still missing. A 21-year-old Belarusian was found alive this morning after spending two days aboard the ship. The young man is hospitalized "as a precaution" in the Pulmonary Clinic of the general hospital of Corfu, whose director said that "all the tests have been carried out and he only reports signs of dehydration".
"Fortunately I am alive", these are the first words of the young man who reported that "from the first interviews with the doctors he said he heard other voices, so we hope that there are other people alive and that they are in good health".
"NO POLLUTION ALARM" - Meanwhile the pollution alarm returns: "I am in contact with the head of RAM", the Marine Environmental Department of the Coast Guard, and "at the moment the hull shows no evidence of fractures that could suggest a spill ”, Assured the minister of ecological transition, Roberto Cingolani.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GRIMALDI - And there are the first accusations against the company, coming from the Seofae, the Greek union of professional hauliers, according to which the ship was overbooked. Hypothesis firmly denied by Grimaldi: “The electronic booking system for goods and passengers of the Grimaldi Group does not allow any overbooking; in the particular case of passengers, only 42% of the capacity was occupied on the Euroferry Olympia voyage. In terms of passenger accommodation, the ship's 77 cabins (equal to 308 beds) and 409 recliners could easily and comfortably accommodate the 239 passengers (including 159 drivers) traveling on board (for a journey of 9 hours and not 25 hours) ”, reads a note from the company.
(Unioneonline / L)
