Greek Court Sentences Five Over 2014 Ferry Disaster

A Greek court on Wednesday sentenced five people to jail terms in connection with the deadly fire on the Norman Atlantic ferry that claimed some 30 lives in 2014

Athens, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2021 ) :A Greek court on Wednesday sentenced five people to jail terms in connection with the deadly fire on the Norman Atlantic ferry that claimed some 30 lives in 2014.

The court in Piraeus sentenced five people who worked for Greek shipping company ANEK, which had chartered the ferry, according to the state news agency ANA.

The sentences -- five years for each defendant -- were suspended pending appeals.

Another six people were acquitted, ANA said.

The pre-dawn disaster on the ferry sailing between Patras and Ancona left 13 confirmed dead while nearly 20 people remain unaccounted for.

Over 470 people were rescued.

Sixteen paying passengers are unaccounted for, along with two Syrian men reported by their families to have boarded as stowaways.

The ferry disaster also claimed the lives of two Albanian seamen killed in a tugboat accident during the rescue operation in stormy seas.

Rescue services took more than 24 hours to get survivors off the blaze-hit boat.