BARI, Italy — Fighting high winds and stormy seas, helicopter rescue crews Monday evacuated the last of the hundreds of people trapped aboard a Greek ferry that caught fire off Albania. The death toll climbed to seven as survivors told of a frantic rush to escape the flames and pelting rain.
The evacuation was completed in the early afternoon and the captain was the last to leave the ferry, the Italian and Greek coast guards said.
The Italian Coast Guard said two more bodies were recovered Monday afternoon, adding to the four bodies found earlier in the water and the body of one Greek man recovered Sunday from a lifeboat chute.
It didn't immediately say where the two latest bodies were found.
The Greek Coast Guard said 432 people were rescued from the ferry. Those included passengers and crew, Greek Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Lagadianos said, adding the figures came from Italian authorities who are in charge of the rescue operation.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.