The Minister for Development, Ana Pastor, flew into Palma yesterday afternoon for emergency talks about the ferry which caught fire off Majorca on Tuesday night.While Pastor chaired the meeting with senior Balearic politicians, the emergency services and representatives from the tourist industry, some 85 passengers evacuated from the ferry which caught fire early on Tuesday afternoon, were still being accommodated at a Palma hotel while their paper work and journeys home were being organised. It was also confirmed that the fire aboard the car ferry Sorrento was under control - 24 hours after it broke out.
The authorities are now apparently waiting for it to be completely extinguished before sending personnel aboard the vessel prior to taking it under tow back to Palma from where she set sail for Valencia, according to the President of the Council of Majorca, Maria Salom.
A tug from Tarragona arrived on site yesterday afternoon and the President of the Balearics, Jose Ramon Bauza, said that, as yet, there was no sign of a fuel leak despite the ferry carrying some 750 tons of fuel and that so far, there had been no pollution but it was early days. Fire broke out aboard the vessel in the early afternoon shortly after it had left Palma. A truck driver aboard the vessel said he heard explosions going off like “bombs”.
Passengers and crew stayed aboard the vessel for an hour before the captain gave the order to take to the lifeboats as the fire became more intense.