DHAKA: All remaining passengers have been taken off the ferry Norman Atlantic, which caught fire off the island of Corfu.

Italian officials say, reports the BBC.

Five people died in the incident. One man was killed when trying to escape the ship, and a further four bodies have been recovered from the sea.

More than 400 people were rescued, in a long and complex operation amid gale-force winds and thick smoke.

The Italian navy said the captain and four officials were still on the ship.

It is unclear what caused the fire to break out on Sunday on the car deck of the ferry, which was carrying 478 people from the Greek city of Patras to Ancona in Italy.

Italian prosecutors announced on Monday that they had opened a criminal investigation into the fire and would look into whether negligence had played a role.

Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Lagadianos said four bodies were found on Monday. The body of a 62-year-old Greek man had already been recovered along with his injured wife after they fell into the water as they tried to reach a lifeboat.

Teodora Douli, 56, told the media that her husband may have hit his head as he fell. ‘I tried to save him but I couldn’t,’ she said.

BDST: 2116 HRS, DEC 29, 2014