A Chaos, A Panic

"Everyone there was trampling on each other to get onto the helicopter."
"First children, then women and then men. But the men, they started hitting us so they could get on first. They didn't take into consideration the women or the children, nothing."
"[The rescue scene was] a chaos, a panic [with passengers feet burning from the fire underneath] And from the feet up we were soaked."
Christos Perlis, Greek truck driver

"The jungle law prevailed."
"There was no queue or order. No respect was shown for children."
Irene Varsioti, Greek passenger from the Italian ferry Norman Atlantic

"As an old seaman, I offer my deferential salute to the ship captain for having done his job with great dignity and competence."
"He was last off, as a captain should be."
Admiral Giuseppe De Giorgi

"There was no alarm -- this was the absolute tragedy. They didn't knock. They didn't advise us. We woke from smoke that entered in the room."
Dimitra Theodossiou, Greek soprano, ferry passenger

"We were soaked from the water they doused to extinguish the fire. Our feet froze. People were forced to move closer to the fire to keep warm. We waited outside for hours."
Aylin Akamac, Turkish ferry passenger

The Greek Coast Guard released dramatic footage of a burning car ferry, the Norman Atlantic, during a 36-hour rescue operation.

It wasn't quite the wretched catastrophe of the wreck of the Costa Concordia in 2012 when Captain Francesco Schettino abandoned both his ship and the passengers aboard it as it sank, leading to the death of 32 people, but the way in which this event unfurled shone no light of heroic action on those whose responsibility as captain and crew were the almost 500 passengers aboard the ferry Norman Atlantic.

Did the required drills for fire and evacuation never take place to ensure that the ship authority would have both under control in the unlikely event that a fire did happen and such a large contingent of people needed emergency evacuation? Order and calm above all, and the assurance that those held to be in control of the ship would have been of immense value to the desperate and fearful passengers, living a nightmare between Arctic chill and the fires of hell.

It was, in the event, the Italian military that appears to have distinguished itself for a difficult rescue mission in dreadful environmental conditions. They succeeded against high winds and surging seas, asphyxiating smoke from the fire, and the dark Adriatic night to airlift over four hundred people off the ferry decks while the fire blazed on. Their timely response saved many from death, including two dogs in an expression of wider humanity.

Some of the passengers, lifted into helicopter baskets were suffering from hypothermia, from carbon monoxide poisoning, exhaustion and trauma. The ferry captain, Argilio Glacomazzi did his duty in remaining with the ship until all but the 9 crew left to guide the ferry back to shore were evacuated. Which is very nice, but back again to preparedness to act swiftly, efficiently and calmly to guide passengers in such an event; it was absent, and was that not one of his responsibilities?

There were 427 people rescued, but the passenger manifest was incomplete. So much so that it is estimated after the fact that though 13 people are now acknowledged to have lost their lives in the event of the fire and the circumstances that followed, up to 40 are yet unaccounted for. he roster of the dead may yet be larger than that of the Costa Concordia. Not to mention the 80 rescued whose names did not appear on the manifest.

Had he done his duty, the captain would have in retrospect something to be proud of. The pushing and shoving, the passengers desperately and furiously thrusting at one another over slots on lifeboats and helicopter baskets needn't have occurred. The Italian and Greek helicopter rescue crews did their jobs well, to their credit in the evacuation of the survivors. Some 427 rescued, but a ship's manifest of 478; quite the disparity.

Some of those not registered on the manifest held to be migrants fleeing war in Afghanistan and Libya and elsewhere in the dysfunctional Middle East. The mostly Italian crew seemed incapable of rising to the occasion. Had bribes been taken for the covert placement of desperate migrants looking for haven in Europe? No practical aid was given the passengers by the crew; passengers were alerted to the situation by other passengers waking them from sleep, banging on their doors.

"When we got out on deck the flames were huge and all the cars were on fire", said Nick Channing-Williams, describing the scene that confronted him. Passengers eventually received an order to obtain life vests and come to the upper decks. "The fire was basically cooking everybody's feet ... People just panicked. When the flames are licking up the side of the boat and there's no sign of help ... you do feel somewhat helpless", said Mr. Channing-Williams in classic British understatement.

More will be learned eventually, as an investigation into the cause of the fire delves a little deeper into the suspicion that it was deliberately set....

Smoke billows from the Norman Atlantic in the Adriatic Sea on Sunday, December 28, In this image released by the Italian Navy.