Italian ship evacuated after blaze on board off Greece

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 18 - An Italian ship, the Grimaldi Lines Euroferry Olympia, had to be evacuated early on Friday after a blaze broke out on board close to the Greek island of Corfu.
    The ship was carrying 237 passengers plus 51 crew members.
    There were no reports of anyone being seriously injured in the fire at the time of writing.
    The blaze is thought to have started in the hold of the ship, which was carrying lorries and their drivers.
    Most of the people on board, 242, were rescued by an Italian Finance Police vessel that was in the area for a separate operation.
    President Sergio Mattarella on Friday called Finance Police Commander Giuseppe Zafarana to thank the force for the rescue.
    Finance police officers reported that the rescued passengers said was there was panic aboard the ship because "the flames were really tall".
    "When the fire broke out, the ship's commander went around the cabins and brought the passengers together on a single deck," Felice Lodovico Simone Cicchetti, the commander of the finance police vessel, told ANSA.
    "Then he gave the order to abandon ship, but the evacuation wasn't a stroll in the park".
    Grimaldi said the fire had not caused fuel to pour into the sea.
    (ANSA).