Georgian priest found dead after Italy ferry fire
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UPDATED 8.30 pm: Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that dead body found today in the Adriatic Sea was identified as the priest Ilia Kartozia, the Head of a Monastery in Mtskheta.
"He was identified by the Georgian lady in Bari, Italy by the photo sent from the military ship, where the body was moved after finding,” said the Head of Ministry’s Council Department Giorgi Tabatadze.
The body will be transported to the city of Brindisi, Italy for the next examination.
Priest Ilia Kartozia left for Italy to make a pilgrimage three days ago together with eight Georgians from his flock as the Georgian Public Broadcaster reported.
EARLIER 3.48 pm: All Georgian citizens except the Priest Ilia Kartozia have been found on the burning ferry near the Greek island of Corfu in the Adriatic Sea.
According to another Georgian priest, archimandrite Seraphim, the Italian media published a list of the survivors, which included the name of Ilia Karotizia, but this was unconfirmed information.
"This is the only information we have. Otherwise we are in absolute vacuum and no one contacts us,” he said.
Priest Ilia Kartozia, who is the Head of a Monastery in Mtskheta, was traveling to a Monastery in the city of Bari with several attendants.
In total, nine Georgian citizens were aboard the burning ship, including one pregnant woman and one child. Both of them were transported to the hospital in the city of Bari, Italy.
The other six rescued citizens of Georgia feel well and are now in the hotel in the city of Bari, Italy.
Meanwhile, the Italian and international rescuers still continue search efforts after the evacuation from the ferry has ended, as the number of missing people could not be determined yet. In total, ten people were reported to be dead from the accident.
The ferry company operating the journey from the Greek city of Patras to Ancona in Italy said a total of 478 people had been on the ship when it left.
Italian Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said that only 427 had been accounted for so far, but added that it was the total number of passengers on the ship was not verified.
The Italian-flagged Normand Atlantic was caught on fire and started to list on side yesterday early in the morning.
Five Georgian citizens are evacuated from a ferry, which caught fire near the Greek island of Corfu early this morning, but three Georgians and more than 200 passengers still remain on the burning ship.
Official Tbilisi expressed its immense condolences over the burnt ferry tragedy that caught fire off Greece's Adriatic Coast on December 28.
Georgian priest Ilia Kartozia drowned helping other passengers of Italian ferry Norman Atlantic as Georgian survivor of the tragedy says.
All expenses for the transportation and funeral of father Ilia Kartozia, who died during a fire on the Italian ferry in Adriatic Sea, will be covered by Georgian state.
The President of Georgia has awarded late Archimandrite Ilia Kartozia a posthumous award for his "exemplary civil devotion, heroism and extraordinary personal bravery" after he died while trying to save others in a ferry tragedy in the Adriatic Sea last year.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has paid tribute to late Archimandrite Ilia Kartozia, who died while trying to save others in a ferry tragedy in the Adriatic Sea last month.
A Georgian priest who died while trying to save others in a ferry tragedy in the Adriatic Sea last year has been honoured posthumously by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).