British man stranded on ferry fire describes rescue chaos

By Sascha Williams - ITV News Reporter

When I spoke to Nick Channing-Williams, one of two British people on board the car ferry that caught fire off the coast of Corfu today, he said the ship had been burning since around 6am in the morning, local time.

At first, people did not appear to be too worried about the burning smell, as they assumed someone had burnt toast for breakfast, but it soon became apparent something was wrong.

Thick smoke began to billow, making it hard to see. Then there was an intense heat from below, so everyone rushed to the top deck to get to safety.

Once on the top deck there was some panic, especially when lifeboats were deployed and lots of people tried to get into them. Some passengers made it into lifeboats but in the bad weather, not everyone could get in. He saw at least one lifeboat dropped without anyone in it, and also saw people try to jump into the sea. He later heard reports someone had died - reports confirmed by authorities this evening.

Read: Man dies after falling into the sea during rescue mission

Whilst I was talking to him, the ship was 'listing' on to its side, which was "very disconcerting", and felt very unstable. He was told it could take another five hours to get back to safety, but fears the ship, most of which has been burned away, may not last that long.

Even though the cause of the emergency was the fire, the biggest problem he said was now the cold. Those remaining on the ship have endured thunder, lightening, rain and hail - and without their belongings and clothes it has been harder to stay warm.

He is now among the 319 people on board waiting to be rescued. His last words before his battery died as we talked were optimistic: