BARI, Italy, Feb. 14 – After almost two months following the shipwreck off the coast of Albania that claimed the lives of 11 people — with 18 more still missing — the investigation is continuing as the wreck of the Norman Atlantic ferry arrived in Bari from the port of Brindisi.
“We hope not to take this pier over for over a month and a half,” said the prosecutor of Bari, Giusseppe Volpe. A technical committee will empty the ship to avoid any environmental damage. After that they will begin the investigation. It will remain at Bari port for the time necessary for the investigation, a move that normally causes some operating problems there.
“The operations are complex,” said Volpe.
The ferry was traveling from Greece to Ancona, caught fire off the coast of Albania in the early morning of Dec. 28 last year in a stormy sea. During rescue operations hampered by bad weather, there were found and recovered nine victims. The other two, with the charred bodies were found later on the ferry. Officially, there is talk of 18 missing, but the fear is that on board there were illegal immigrants who have not managed to get to safety.
