Bari prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe
said Wednesday that 98 passengers of the Norman Atlantic ferry
that caught fire on Sunday are still unaccounted for.
Volpe added that helicopters and a merchant ship have
brought 80 survivors to Greece in past few hours.
A second merchant ship that came to the rescue has also not
been heard from, he said.
"Weather conditions won't allow for the ferry to be towed
to Puglia, so it is moving towards Valona Bay in Albania," he
added.
The stricken ferry was originally to be towed to Brindisi
as part of an investigation into the disaster.
It is currently about ten miles off Valona, and if weather
conditions allow it will be towed back to Brindisi as early as
tonight in order to arrive on New Year's Day, authorities said.
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