PALERMO, Italy, May 29 (UPI) -- All 526 passengers were evacuated safely from a ferry off Palermo, Italy, early Friday after fire broke out on the ship's car deck.
Another ferry and a coast guard boat rescued all of the passengers while many of the crew members remained onboard to aid firefighters, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
Five people, including a pregnant woman, were taken to a hospital suffering from shock, but there were no injuries.
ANSA says the fire on the Vincenzo Florio della Tirrenia, traveling from Naples to Palermo, on the island of Sicily, broke out while passengers were sleeping.
"They woke us up in our beds at about 4 a.m., told us there was a fire and took us onto the deck," said passenger Sergio Friscia. "There was smoke everywhere and it was difficult to breathe, so the captain ordered everyone into the lifeboats."
A fire expert from London is being flown to Italy to investigate the cause of the blaze, which firefighters say may have started in one of the vehicles the ferry was transporting.
