Greek Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Lagadianos said four more people were found dead on Monday. Pettorino said two Italian tugs tried to attach themselves to the ferry in the evening, but were frustrated by the thick smoke. An Italian Navy rescue unit leaves the port of Brindisi. Ferry catches fire between Greece, Italy – Passengers wait to be rescued from the burning ferry. An Italian Navy helicopter and a rescue unit leave the port of Brindisi to take part in the rescue operations. A cargo ship with 49 people evacuated from... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image taken from video and released by the Italian Navy, a woman is lifted from the deck of the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic by a rescue helicopter after it caught fire in the Adriatic... (Associated Press) 
 
 Exhausted and cold from their ordeal, 49 passengers reached land Monday in the southern Italian port of Bari, more than 24 hours after fire broke out on a car deck of the ferry making a journey from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona in Italy. Italian and Greek... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image released by the Italian Navy, passengers and crew are seen on the deck of the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic as it is approached by a rescue helicopter after it caught fire in the... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this image released by the Italian Navy, passengers of the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic, that caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, are rescued from the Italian Navy ship San Giorgio, Monday, Dec. 29,... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this photo taken from a nearby ship, smoke rises from the Italian-flagged Norman Atlantic after it caught fire in the Adriatic Sea, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. The first to disembark was an injured man wrapped in a yellow striped blanket and wearing bandages around his bare feet, helped down the ship's ladder by two rescue workers. The ferry, carrying hundreds of passengers, caught fire early Sunday, trapping passengers on the top decks as gale-force winds and choppy seas hampered the evacuation. "Our feet were burning and from the feet up we were soaked," Christos Perlis, 32, told the AP by telephone. The Italian coast guard earlier said that all remaining passengers had been evacuated from the vessel, with the boat's commander finally leaving the ship at 2:50 p.m. Monday. Helicopters worked night and day plucking passengers off the stricken vessel and ferrying them to 10 or so mercantile ships nearby that were summoned to help. A freighter carrying 49 rescued passengers arrived at the port of Bari on Monday. One man died after he jumped or fell into the cold water, authorities said. Riccardo Rizzotto said the ultimate destination of the stricken ferry was unclear. A truck driver told the Greek news media that trucks filled with oil were "packed like sardines," their cargo scraping the ceiling, which could have set off sparks in rough seas to start a fire, he surmised.
– Simultaneously battling driving rain, gale-force winds, freezing temperatures, flames, and smoke, Italian and Greek rescuers have painstakingly plucked all of more than 400 passengers and crew from a blazing ferry in the Adriatic Sea, reports CNN. In the course of the daylong rescue, they came upon four more bodies from the Norman Atlantic in the water, reports the AP; two more bodies were recovered after that, bringing the death toll to seven. One man died yesterday after becoming trapped in a lifeboat chute. Passengers, who were in communication with media via telephone, described a hellish scene as they awaited an arduous rescue via helicopter: "Our feet were burning, and from the feet up we were soaked," one passenger tells the AP, adding that people were "trampling on each other to get onto the helicopter." Echoes another, per CNN: Those aboard were "dying of cold and suffocating from the smoke." Says yet another passenger, "We experienced the Titanic. The only thing missing was that we didn't sink." Some 150 passengers were able to escape in the first hours after the fire broke out on the ferry's car deck, notes CNN; subsequent lifeboats couldn't be deployed when the boat lost power, rendering the electronic arms that moved the vessels useless. Survivors, some limping or with bandaged feet, were being brought to shore in Italy. Several have been treated for hypothermia and carbon monoxide poisoning, notes the AP. A total of 414 people were rescued, with the captain being the last to leave. The ferry is expected to eventually be towed to Italy.