The Operational Center of the Italian authorities continues their investigation to track those who were on board of the ferry boat “Norman Atlantic” and are still missing.
As stated, the prosecutor of Bari who is in charge of the investigation regarding the naval tragedy — which cost the life of 11 passengers — will seek the assistance from the Greek, German and Turkish authorities in order to identify the corpses found through DNA tests. The number of Greek citizens missing after the fire in “Norman Atlantic” is nine, while three of their compatriots died. On Monday, the relatives of those missing have left Italy and are now expecting news on the fate of their loved from the Italian and Greek authorities.
At the same time, the Italian researchers are trying to enter the burned ferry, although it is still difficult to achieve this as the fire is still rampant and the temperatures remain alarming high. It should be noted that as of 8 January 2015, i.e. 11 days after the fire broke out, the ship continues to burn, preventing inspection of its lower decks. Furthermore, the possibility of using liquid nitrogen in order to lower the temperatures has been tabled in order for the authorities to enter all areas and examine the causes that lead to the catastrophic fire.
Greek officials of the Fire Brigade and of the Hellenic Coast Guard have also arrived on the spot to participate in the research. Finally, the possibility of opening the side entrance of the ferry’s garage to allow the entry of firefighting forces has been discussed, but at present, it is still very difficult to achieve this due to the existing conditions.
It should be noted that the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, which belongs to the Greek ferry line ANEK, sailing from Patras in western Greece to the Italian port of Ancona, was 33 nautical miles off the small island of Othonoi when it sent a distress signal on December 28. Currently, the ferry is at the port of Brindisi.
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