Rescue crews battled gale-force winds and massive waves as they struggled to rescue hundreds of people trapped on a burning ferry adrift between Italy and Albania.

A ferry carrying about 470 people caught fire off the Greek island of Corfu, trapping passengers on the top decks as gale-force winds and choppy seas hampered the evacuation.

A yacht and a dinghy crammed with immigrants trying to enter Greece capsized today in the eastern Aegean Sea, leaving at least 22 dead, including four children, and several more missing.