Euroferry Olympia fire: captain and two mechanics arrested

The arrested captain of the burning ship “Euroferry Olympia” and two mechanics were brought to the prosecutor. An urgent preliminary investigation is underway.

The arrest was made as part of the preliminary investigation, and they were later released. The extinguishing of the fire that broke out on the ship continues, in the bow of the firefighters have already coped with the fire. Particular attention is paid to possible explosions. The priority is the search for 12 missing truck drivers – three Greeks, seven Bulgarians, one Turk and one Lithuanian.

Shipping Minister Yiannis Plakiotakis says the fires have not yet been extinguished. Once firefighters have put the fire under control, the ship will be towed away and further cleanup work will be carried out on site. A special psychologist is working with the families of the three missing Greeks. Minister says:

“From the first moment, an immediate and gigantic operation was carried out by the forces of the Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy, as a result of which 280 passengers and crew members were rescued, and they were safely delivered to Corfu. At present, the search for 12 missing people continues. Among them, 3 Greeks , whose families we are in constant contact with. Even a special coast guard psychologist is next to them.”

He noted that one of the Greeks is of Cretan origin, but they all live in Athens. The son of one of them says:

“We are waiting for negotiations with the Port Authority of Corfu to understand how to move forward, that’s all. My father is a truck driver, he traveled a lot in the last year.”

Meanwhile, 10 Greek drivers who traveled on the Euroferry Olympia will go to court demanding compensation from Grimaldi. According to the statement of the lawyer representing them, Vassilis Nulezas, drivers will seek compensation in proportion to the damage caused to them:

“I was contacted by about ten Greek truck drivers who were on board the Grimaldi, which was on fire. Fortunately, they left it in time, boarded a nearby ship and remained unharmed. The trucks were completely burned down. They were placed in a hotel in Corfu. “The fire spread quickly. They are in shock. We will take legal action against the company seeking compensation commensurate with the damage they caused. They have lost property and a lifetime’s work. We will take all necessary legal action in cooperation with lawyer Mauro Masiello.”

George Parlanzas, a truck driver who was rescued from a burning ship, says:

“I was in the truck, myself and many colleagues. I don’t know the three Greeks who went missing. I may know them as individuals, but I don’t know their names. I know the company one of them works for, but I don’t moreover, when the alarm sounded, we were in the cabins, we were not sleeping well when we were awakened, they picked us up at the assembly point, we put on life jackets to leave the ship, when we boarded the boat, there were about 30 of us nearby. we had a child with us. We were encouraged by a gentleman who was at the fire in 2014. We watched the ship burn. We were fine. We entered the sea and it was all over.”

One of the crew members, an Italian who worked on the ship for 4 years in the engine room, as quoted by newsbreak.gr, describes what happened:

“The flames were huge, I believe the fire started in the inner garage and not on the open deck where there were 28 trucks, otherwise it could have been better contained. It spread quickly. Luckily we were well trained and the evacuation was quick and efficient “.

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