Passengers survive fire which kills stowaways
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m At least 11 illegal immigrants died last week when a fire broke out an a Greek ferry bound for Italy.
The victims, thought to be Iraqi Kurds, died from smoke inhalation while they were hiding in "the garage area" on a vehicle deck of the SuperFast It is believed that the fire started from a loaded truck shortly after the ferry left the port of Patras en route to Ancona.
The 307 registered passengers and 100 crew were safely taken ashore in life boats. Just four minor injuries were reported.
The ship is now undergoing repairs and the daily ferry
service has been reduced to one sailing in each direction on alternate days.
A spokesman from Viamare Travel, UK agent for SuperFast Ferries. says: "The damage doesn't appear to be too bad and is mostly confined to the car deck. We don't expect it to cause too much disruption."