Firefighters find black box on still-burning ferry
Source: AP-Excite
By PAOLO SANTALUCIA
BRINDISI, Italy (AP) — Wearing gas masks against the smoke, Italian firefighters and investigators boarded the charred Norman Atlantic ferry on Friday and retrieved a data recorder they hope will help them discover what caused a deadly blaze.
But with some parts of the ferry still burning, they emerged hours later to admit they had to put off for at least a day the search for any more bodies in the maritime disaster that has already killed 11 people. The team will attempt to go back on board on Saturday.
Greece says 19 people are still unaccounted for after a fire broke out Sunday as the ferry traveled from Greece to Italy, and disputes Italian claims of a higher number of missing. Italy says 477 passengers and crew were rescued from the burning ferry, most by helicopters operating in gale-force winds.
Both nations fear the ferry car deck where the fire started could contain more bodies, possibly those of unregistered migrants trying to slip into Italy.
FULL story at link.
A detail of the Norman Atlantic ferry as it is being towed into the port of Brindisi, southern 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. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150103/eu--italy-ferry_fire-426467bc12.html
