Pope prays for missing AirAsia and Italy ship accident passengers
Monday, 29 December 2014 00:21
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Reuters: Pope Francis prayed for the passengers of air and sea incidents on Sunday (28 December) as he conducted his weekly Angelus prayer in the Vatican.
Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501, an Airbus 320-200 with 162 people on board, lost contact with Jakarta air traffic control at 6:17 a.m. (23:17 GMT) on Sunday on its way to Singapore from Surabaya in Indonesia, officials said. The pilots had asked to change course to avoid bad weather.
Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers were trapped on a burning car ferry off the coast of Greece on Sunday, waiting to be rescued by a flotilla of nearby ships that battled storm conditions in open water as they tried to reach them.
The Greek coastguard said 150 people had been saved from the Italian-registered Norman Atlantic, which was carrying almost 500 passengers and crew when it sent a distress signal after a fire broke out on its lower deck.
Another waterborne incident took place near the eastern Italian city of Ravenna, where two merchant ships were believed to have collided on Sunday morning, according to Italian news reports.
“Dear brothers and sisters, my thoughts in this moment go to the passengers of the airplane which went missing while it was en route from Indonesia to Singapore as well as the passengers of the ships that have been involved in incidents in the past hours at the Adriatic Sea. With affection and prayers I am close to their family members and those who are living through these difficult situations with apprehension and suffering as well those who are involved in the rescue operations,” Francis said after reading the Angelus prayer and blessing the crowds.
