Passengers, crew evacuated from ferry

(ANSA) - Rome, April 28 - All the passengers and crew on board a Spanish-operated Italian ferry are safe after being evacuated some 20 miles off the Spanish resort island of Palma de Mallorca after a fire broke out on board Tuesday.
    The 45 crew members - 14 of them Italian - and 170 passengers travelling on the Sorrento were forced to evacuate after a fire broke out in the engine room two hours after it departed from Palma, heading to the Spanish city of Valencia.
    The fire rapidly spread to the rest of the ship, releasing thick black fumes which left three crew members ill with smoke inhalation.
    They were rescued by another Italian-owned ship - the Puglia, owned by ferry company Tirrenia but leased to Spanish company Balearia - as well as other vessels in a Spanish and Italian Coast Guard operation.
    The ferry owned by Neapolitan company Grimaldi was leased to Spanish company Acciona Transmediterranea three months ago.