ALL passengers and crew have been evacuated from a ferry which caught fire in the middle of the Mediterranean yesterday (Tuesday).
It has taken most of the night for emergency services to transport the 157 occupants to safety, but so far, nobody is said to be injured.
The Sorrento, one of the Trasmediterránea fleet, was on its way to Valencia from Palma de Mallorca, and was only 18 miles from the island when the blaze broke out.
Most of the passengers were put on board the Puglia, one of fellow Mediterranean crossing firm Baleària's ships.
The Puglia had to divert from its intended journey between Ibiza and Barcelona to help with the rescue operation.
Six crew members were unable to reach the lifeboat station on the ferry in time, and had to be taken to dry land by helicopter.
Everyone was taken to the port of Palma by ferry, except for a 25-year-old Italian woman who suffered mild smoke inhalation and a Philippine man who had a panic attack, both of whom were airlifted to hospital, but have since been discharged.
A total of 12 nationalities of passengers were travelling on the Sorrento, and around 80 of them were lorry drivers who were returning to Valencia with their vehicles.
Another 45 were crew members.
Travellers, as well as Spaniards, were said to be German, Chinese, Romanian, Australian, Argentinian, Bulgarian, Algerian, Austrian, Albanian, Colombian, Sénégalese and Ecuadorian, but none are believed to be British or Irish.
Coastguard rescue services were alerted of the inferno at 13.50hrs yesterday.
Initially, it was thought there would be no need to evacuate, but when staff were unable to bring the flames under control themselves and the fire began to spread at an alarming rate, the captain gave the order for lifeboats and life-jackets to be released and for everyone to abandon ship.
Once in Palma port, the passengers and crew were met by the Red Cross, whose workers were waiting on stand-by with wheelchairs, blankets, and counsellors to help those who were distressed and in shock.
Trasmediterránea has put all evacuees up in hotels in Palma and says it will arrange their onward travel or return home in accordance with each passenger's requirements.
Fears have been raised that the burning ferry may cause a massive fuel spillage and destroy marine life in exactly the same way as the Russian fishing boat, the Oleg Naydenov, off the coast of Gran Canaria.
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