Two Albanian seamen who took part in the rescue operation for the Norman Atlantic ferry have died from injuries incurred in an accident, raising the death toll from the fire to 12.
The Italian navy said the merchant sailors were on board a tugboat when the cables attaching it to the stricken ferry snapped. It did not provide further details.
Meanwhile, nearly 40 passengers thought to have been on the boat remain unaccounted for, but it is unclear whether that is due to inaccurate manifest lists or whether some of them may have perished unnoticed in the chaotic early stages of the disaster.
Earlier, Italy's defence minister Roberta Pinotti told a news conference that the Italian navy rescued 427 people, bringing the total accounted for to 437.
However, Greek authorities originally announced that 478 passengers and crew were on board when the fire broke out and left the ferry drifting in high seas and treacherous weather off Albania.
But Italian transport minister Maurizio Lupi said it was unclear whether the passenger list released by the Greek authorities was an accurate reflection of who was on board.
He said the ferry had made a stopover on a Greek island before it ran into trouble on Sunday morning.
"There is a embarkation list on which the names of the 427 passengers and 56 crew appear," Mr Lupi said.
"It is up to the departure port to match up their list and the people (rescued).
"That is why we are continuing our (search) effort: we cannot know what the exact number was."
None of the statements made by survivors of the disaster have so far given any indication that as many as 41 passengers may have died.
This morning DFAT confirmed that two Turkish-Australian dual nationals on the ferry were both safe and well and had been offered consular assistance.
Italian navy chief of staff Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi said military planes were continuing to overfly the area around the ferry checking for bodies.
Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi praised the work of the Italian-led rescue effort, which he said had helped avoid a "massacre".
The Italian navy said the Italian captain Argilio Giacomazzi was the last of the crew to leave the ship in a rescue effort that defied high seas and freezing weather in a 36-hour drama.
The Norman Atlantic was sailing from Patros in western Greece to Ancona in Italy carrying passengers and more than 200 vehicles when a fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday.
It was 44 nautical miles from Corfu when fire broke out on the car deck.
"It was hell," Greek opera singer Dimitra Theodossiou said after being evacuated by helicopter.
"It was very cold, terribly cold. Nearby ships sprayed water from their hydrants [to fight the fire] and we were completely wet."
She was treated for a mild case of hypothermia at a hospital in Lecce, Italy, and later released.
Another passenger, Robert Mane, said there was little warning that a fire had broken out, and many people struggled to get into lifeboats.
"We were asleep when the smoke entered out cabins. Flames and smoke were engulfing people from all sides," he said.
"The crew tried to somewhat coordinate the evacuation into the emergency boats, but that proved to be impossible.
"At that stage people were just throwing themselves into the boats. It took me 25 minutes to get into one."
Italian and Greek helicopter crews winched more than 400 people to safety despite gale-force winds and thick smoke.
Bad weather hampered earlier efforts to attach cables to the ferry for towing.
Rough seas and thick fog in the area also led to the collision of two merchant ships, resulting in at least one death.
Italy's coastguard confirmed the first casualty of the disaster when it recovered the body of a man who had thrown himself off the burning ferry.
Officials said most of the passengers were Greek, but the manifest included names from several other countries including Germany, Italy, Austria, Turkey, France and the Netherlands.
The rescue effort involved helicopters and aircraft from the Italian and Greek defence forces along with 10 ships in support roles.
Early in the rescue, seven merchant ships gathered around the ferry to act as a windbreak as firefighting vessels made their way to the scene.
The Ferry recently passed inspection for faulty fire door.
"The tests confirmed that the boat was in full working order," Carlos Visentini said.
He said the company had addressed minor flaws found after checks by Greek authorities in the port of Patras.
"The inspectors did uncover a slight malfunction in one of the fire doors, number 112, situated on bridge number 5 - the one where, according to the information we have so far, the fire developed," he said.
"This was immediately repaired to the satisfaction of the inspectors and therefore the boat was able to continue in service."
The Italian-flagged ferry was chartered by Greek ferry operator Anek Lines. The cause of the fire has still to be determined.
Tuesday 30 December 2014
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-30/norman-atlantic-ferry-rescue-wraps-up/5992308
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