Hundreds evacuated from blazing ferry in Italy

More than 500 people were evacuated in lifeboats from an Italian ferry today after a fire broke out in the car hold, officials said.

The Vincenzo Florio, travelling from Naples to Palermo, was 25 miles from the Sicilian capital when the fire broke out.

The 526 passengers used lifeboats to reach another ferry and a coastguard ship which went to the rescue, said Cosimo Seminara, a port official in Palermo.

“They knocked on the door of the cabin and told us to get on deck,” passenger Stefano Friscia told Sky TG 24 television. “It was hard to breathe, the whole ship filled with smoke and they ordered the lifeboats lowered.”

Five passengers, including a pregnant woman, were taken to hospital as a precaution.

Most of the 35 crew members stayed on board to help firefighters extinguish the blaze, Seminara said. The cause of the fire was still being investigated.

The ship, which belongs to the Italian ferry company Tirrenia di Navigazione, was being towed and was expected to reach Palermo later today.