--- description: 427 people rescued, including 56 crew members. title: 8 Dead After Passengers Evacuated From Burning Ferry in Adriatic Sea image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd47fca2cd9b8b137/6987775a8e0601c96a45971e/greece-burning-ferry-passengers-rescued.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 8 Dead After Passengers Evacuated From Burning Italian Ferry by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) and [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:57 PM CUTPublished: Dec 29, 2014 6:43 AM CUT  A passenger is helped as he leaves from the " Spirit of Piraeus" cargo container ship as they arrive in Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece December 29, 2014. A passenger is helped as he leaves from the " Spirit of Piraeus" cargo container ship as they arrive in Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece December 29, 2014.Reuters by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) and [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 8:57 PM CUTPublished: Dec 29, 2014 6:43 AM CUT At least eight passengers have died after a grueling evacuation of an Italian ferry was completed Monday, more than 24 hours after the ship burst into flames Sunday in the Adriatic Sea. Search efforts are continuing after the all survivors were evacuated by Monday afternoon, with 427 people rescued, including 56 crew members, from the _Norman Atlantic_ ferry, the [Associated Press](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU%5FGREECE%5FFERRY%5FFIRE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT "undefined") reported. The original ferry manifest contained 422 passengers and 56 crew members, but officials said it was too early to speculate if people were still missing, as some may have not boarded the ferry. Officials also said some survivors were not listed on the manifest, which suggests they had been traveling illegally. Poor weather conditions and choppy seas reportedly slowed rescue efforts being carried out by Italian and Greek authorities. “It will be a very difficult night. A night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board,” said Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, according to the Associated Press. Medical personnel had been dropped on to the ferry to treat passengers who were believed to be suffering from hypothermia as they waited for rescuers to evacuate the rest of the ship. Officials last inspected the craft less than two weeks ago and six deficiencies were reportedly discovered; however, the vessel was still deemed seaworthy, according to AP. The fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning on the ferry’s car deck, when nearly 500 people were on board, including 422 passengers and 56 crew members. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/de94155826c34c77a3b43d34d1b01494/greece-ferry-ordered-evacuated-after-fire "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3648232/italy-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea-greece-norman-atlantic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3648232/italy-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea-greece-norman-atlantic/"},"headline":"8 Dead After Passengers Evacuated From Burning Italian Ferry","datePublished":"2014-12-29T06:43:28.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T20:57:04.000Z","description":"427 people were rescued, including 56 crew members","url":"https://time.com/3648232/italy-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea-greece-norman-atlantic/","keywords":["fire","Italy","Greece","Shipping","ferry","transport"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd47fca2cd9b8b137/6987775a8e0601c96a45971e/greece-burning-ferry-passengers-rescued.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd47fca2cd9b8b137/6987775a8e0601c96a45971e/greece-burning-ferry-passengers-rescued.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Passenger is helped as he leaves from the \" Spirit of Piraeus\" cargo container ship as they arrive in Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece","caption":"Passenger is helped as he leaves from the \" Spirit of Piraeus\" cargo container ship as they arrive in Bari harbour, after the car ferry Norman Atlantic caught fire in waters off Greece","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3648232/italy-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea-greece-norman-atlantic/","name":"8 Dead After Passengers Evacuated From Burning Italian Ferry"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Dramatic Rescue of Woman and 2 Kids Being Pulled from Burning Ferry","description":"A dramatic areial rescue of a woman and her two children being pulled from the burning ferry off the coast of Greece.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/q1VXRCh2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-29T05:22:11.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/q1VXRCh2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3648232/italy-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea-greece-norman-atlantic/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3648232/italy-burning-ferry-adriatic-sea-greece-norman-atlantic/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```