170 Rescued from Fire-Stricken Ferry in Spain
Some 170 people were rescued and three lightly injured on Tuesday after a passenger ferry caught fire off Spain's Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, officials said.
The ferry operated by Trasmediterranea was traveling from Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the Balearic Islands, to the eastern Spanish port of Valencia when the fire broke out, a company information officer said.
"Everyone has been evacuated," she told AFP.
A Spanish coast guard boat along with two other ships in the area evacuated the passengers from the ferry.
Rescuers were taking the passengers to the port in Palma de Mallorca, the Balearic Islands' port authority said in a Twitter message.
Three crew members suffering from smoke inhalation were evacuated by helicopter, the port authority added.
The fire broke out when the ferry was 35 miles (65 kilometers) from the coast of Mallorca, the port authority said.
It is not clear what sparked the blaze, which started in the ferry's engine room, according to regional daily newspaper Diario de Mallorca.
Photos published online showed thick plumes of smoke rising from the ferry.
Source: Agence France Presse
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