Four Indian tourists rescued from Greek ship

Four Indian passengers were among 278 people on board a tourist vessel named Giorgis that was rescued by Greek authorities after it ran aground in choppy seas off the coast of Poros, an island near Athens.

The passengers, mainly Japanese, American and Russian tourists, were evacuated yesterday by boat to be taken to Poros, according to the merchant marine ministry, which coordinates rescue operations at sea.

"Everyone is fine and in surprisingly good spirits," Poros's deputy mayor, Stamatina Mitsopoulou, said.

The names of the four Indian tourists were not released.

Reports from Greece say that there were also 35 crew members aboard the vessel, which had been on a one-day, three-island cruise.

"Nobody suffered a scratch and everything went very well. There was no panic and nobody was hurt," the mayor of Poros, Dimitris Stratigos, said. "We were lucky, thank God."

Three helicopters, a military transport plane as well as coastguard vessels and more than a dozen other boats, were involved in the rescue operation.