(Bloomberg) -- Italian and Greek rescue teams, battling high winds and rough seas, struggled to evacuate passengers aboard a ferry that caught fire off the Greek island of Corfu early today.

The Italian Navy and Coast Guard were coordinating the operation in the strait between Italy and Albania. The blaze broke out about 4 a.m. aboard the Italian-flagged ferry Norman Atlantic, Greek Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said in a statement on the ministry’s website. It was traveling from the Greek port of Patras to Ancona, Italy, with 422 passengers and 56 crew members onboard.

Italian news agency Ansa reported that one person died while trying to flee the boat. Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said helicopters would continue rescue operations through the night.

The Associated Press quoted Greek Merchant Marine spokesman Nikos Lagadianos as saying that 117 people have been transported to safety, with eight airlifted to southern Italy and the rest taken to nearby ships.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was in contact with his Italian counterpart, Matteo Renzi, the latter said in a Twitter posting earlier today.

--With assistance from Nikos Chrysoloras and Paul Tugwell in Athens.

Special Reports /

Italian ferry carrying 478 people catches fire in the Adriatic Sea

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