A fire broke out Friday on an Italian-flagged cruise ship sailing through the Ionian Sea, injuring one crew member among the nearly 300 people on board, the Greek coastguard said.
The fire on the Euroferry Olympia, which was heading to Italy from the Greek port city of Igoumenitsa, broke out at 4:30 am (0130 GMT). It was carrying 239 passengers and 51 crew on board as well as vehicles.
The injured crew member was 42 years old, a coastguard official said. Television images showed the man, walking with difficulty and helped by firefighters.
He was transported to Corfu on a coastguard patrol boat and was hospitalised with breathing difficulties, according to local media reports.
“The passengers of the cruise ship were transferred safe and sound on rescue boats to Corfu,” Rodi Kratsa, the governor of the Ionian Islands region told Greek public broadcaster.
Television images showed the ship, owned by Italy’s Grimaldi Lines, enveloped in flames that sent plumes of black smoke into the sky.
