Authorities begin evacuation of burnt-out ferry in Baltic Sea


STOCKHOLM: Swedish and Finnish rescue services began evacuating families and elderly passengers from a burnt-out Swedish ferry in the Baltic Sea on Monday evening (August 29), but said the situation was calm and no one had been injured.

About 70 of the roughly 300 people on board were to be evacuated by helicopter as the helpless ship drifted towards the island of Gotland and was in danger of running aground later on Monday at around 21:00 GMT.

“We are evacuating families with children and elderly people. We have strong winds which make it difficult to evacuate by boat,” a spokesman for the Swedish Maritime Administration said. “But the situation is calm and under control,” the person added.

The fire broke out in a container on the car deck aboard the Stena Scandica en route from Latvia to Sweden.

A technical investigation will be launched to determine what started the fire.