A passenger thought to be missing after a fire swept through a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy has been found alive on the vessel’s stern.

He was discovered on Sunday as the Euroferry Olympia was being towed to shore, the coastguard said.

Footage on Greek television showed the man climbing down a stepladder from the fire-ravaged vessel onto a tugboat tied to it.

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Eleven passengers are still missing, the ferry operator and Greek authorities have said. They are from Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Lithuania.

The blaze broke out on Friday as the ship made its way between the Greek port of Igoumenitsa and the Italian port of Brindisi.

Firefighting ships surrounded it and worked through the night as thick black smoke rose into the sky.

All but 12 of the 292 passengers and crew were rescued initially and taken to Corfu.

Greece ferry fire: 12 people still missing after ship blaze off Greek coast

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“I escaped hell,” said lorry driver Dimitris Karaolanidis, after making it to a lifeboat.

“We heard the alarm, we thought it was some kind of drill. But we saw through the portholes that people were running.”

The fire started in a hold where vehicles were parked, the ferry’s operating company said.

A Greek prosecutor on Corfu has ordered an investigation into the cause of the blaze.

The ship’s captain and two engineers were arrested on Friday and released the same day, authorities said.

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