Hundreds stranded off Greece after ferry fire

At least 197 rescued, but hundreds more await evacuation from Italian ferry that caught fire off Greek island of Corfu. At least one person has been killed and hundreds more remain trapped after an Italian ferry with almost 500 people on board caught fire off the Greek island of Corfu. The Italian Navy said 197 of the 478 people on the ferry, sailing from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy, had been evacuated by early Monday Dec 29,2014. Most were airlifted by helicopter to other merchant vessels sailing nearby. The Norman Atlantic, carrying 222 vehicles, 422 passengers and about 56 crew, was 44 nautical miles northwest of Corfu when it sent a distress signal after a fire started on a car deck, Greek coast guard officials said In this image taken from video and released by the Italian Navy, a woman is lifted from the deck of the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic by a rescue helicopter after it caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. Italian and Greek rescue crews battled gale-force winds and massive waves as they struggled Sunday to evacuate hundreds of people from a ferry on fire and adrift in the channel between Italy and Albania. At least one person died and two were injured. The fire broke out before dawn Sunday on a car deck of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, traveling from the western Greek port of Patras to the Italian port of Ancona on the Adriatic, with 422 passengers and 56 crew members on board   The Norman Atlantic ferry is being towed into the port of Brindisi, Italy, Friday, Jan. 2, 2015. The blaze that broke out Sunday and torched the ferry has killed at least 11 people and authorities prepared to search it for possible more dead. Italy says 477 people were rescued, most by helicopters that plucked survivors off the top deck in gale-force winds and carried them to nearby boats.