Italian ferry blaze toll rises to 10

The number of deaths in a blaze that left an Italian ferry stricken off Greece's Adriatic coast has risen to 10.

The fire broke out on Sunday on a vehicle deck of the Norman Atlantic ferry, whose manifest said should be carrying 478 passengers and crew and more than 200 vehicles.

Rescue teams evacuated more than 400 people from the car ferry in a 36-hour operation on Monday.

Italian and Greek authorities continued an air search of the sea around the vessel while they sought to verify the number of passengers who had been on board, fearing that many people could be missing. Rescue efforts were complicated by bad weather.

Nine bodies were recovered from the water around the stricken Norman Atlantic yesterday, a day after the body of a 62-year-old Greek man was pulled from the heaving sea.

Source: Aljazeera