Hundreds rescued from blazing ferry in Baltic sea

A FERRY was ablaze in the Baltic Sea last night after an explosion on its upper deck.

Firefighting ships sprayed the 650ft-long boat with seawater to keep it from breaking apart and spilling an estimated 170 tons of fuel.

A total of 204 passengers and 32 crew were rescued by six ships that moved in to help after the blast on the Lisco Gloria around midnight on Friday. Three people were taken to hospital by helicopter and another 19 suffered minor injuries.

Authorities said the cause of the explosion had not yet been determined.

"People were lucky because it all happened on a major shipping route, that's why the other vessels were quickly on hand to rescue people," said Ulrike Windhoevel, the spokeswoman for Germany's Central Command for Maritime Emergencies in Cuxhaven.

The Lithuanian-registered ferry was travelling from the German port of Kiel to Klaipeda in Lithuania.

Passengers and crew were evacuated by lifeboat and taken by another ferry to a naval base near Kiel. A fire team lowered to the ferry by helicopter managed to anchor it to stop it drifting.