Testimonies from the Italian Norman Atlantic ferry disaster show shocking scenes on board the ship as accounts describe scenes of men hitting women, stepping over little children, grabbing life jackets and rescuing passengers on account of their race. The survival instinct kicked in turning people into brutes. Eye-witness testimonies describe absolute mayhem, fear and savagery aboard the ship prior to the rescue.

Gale-force winds and towering waves swallowing the burning ferry as smoke enveloped it were little compared to the human element as people showed their baser nature in the face of panic.

Accounts by members of the rescue team state that a large number of passengers pledged promises of money in return for a coveted position on the deck of the ship and to be speedily winched by the helicopter rescue team. “They offered everything, even gold, as long as we could take them far away from there,” said one of the rescuers speaking to Italian La Repubblica. Where money couldn’t do the “talking” violence was used as people bit the hands of port authorities. “It was trying,” said one official.

Dimitra Theodosiou

Greek soprano Dimitra Theodosiou, on her way to Rimini for a performance of Nabucco said that it was the worst experience. “What we lived on board was dramatic. There was smoke that reached as far as inside the cabins. When it was dark there was panic as one person climbed over another. Iraqi, Turks, Pakistanis… I don’t know where they came home, but they hit us to rush to be saved first,” she said. “Priority had been given to children, the elderly and women, but these men ignored this. They hit us. They hit me three times and threw me five meters away. I had to react in order to get to the helicopter. I was angry and thought ‘It’s now or never’. That’s why the names of those who were saved were all Turkish, Pakistani or Arabic.”

Ms. Theodosiou was traveling alone. Her car was burnt and she lost all her personal items. “I was in the cabin when I woke up from the smell of something burning and smoke,” she says. “I got up and put on a juper. I took as much money as I could find at that moment, my identification and I ran out. I hit all doors and yelled, ‘Get out, there’s a fire!'”

Christos Perlis

Christos Perlis, a father of a young 2-year-old son, describes horrifying scenes. “There were people says, ‘We’re going to die.’ There were half-naked children crying and women shaken up as the floor burnt,” he said. “At some point a foreigner with a pregnant wife and two children came. We opened the suitcases and covered them with whatever we could find. When the first helicopter arrived with two members of the crew and a rescue officer there was already priority given to who would be saved. As soon as they left there was chaos. Nobody cared about anything and they started to hit whoever was infront of them to get on the helicopter. We tried to protect the women and children along with some other people. We were physically attacked… At some point the passengers, and not the crew threw lifesavers into the sea. Then I saw some people, I think they were Italian, pull and shove women so that they can get away first saying ‘You’re Greek, not Italian.'”

“I also saw someone take three lifesavers even though the person next to him didn’t even have one,” says Mr. Perlis. “They were harsh moments that will always be remembered. All I kept thinking of was my son and wife.”

Michael Papathanassopoulos

Truck driver Michael Papathanassopoulos was one of the first that managed to make his way to Greece. He had traveled the specific route hundreds of times and never expected to live through such a disaster. “I saw children and mothers be pushed around in a savage way from others who rushed to make it onto the rescue helicopter,” he said. “I rushed to help a mother and her child get onto the helicopter. Others punched and pushed in order to get ahead while others tried to stop them so that some order could be held.”

“The most heartbreaking moment was watching some people step over children, women and the elderly in order to save themselves,”‘ he told Proto Thema. “The survial instinct is the wildest animal without emotions or thought.” The 42-year-old father of three from Piraeus will never forget what he lived through. “If someone helped us it was only God,” he says. “Just God. Not the crew nor anyone else.” He had been transported to the hospital at Corfu with respiration problems and quickly recovered to return to his family, however he was extremely moved by the ordeal.

Polymnia Dimitroulaki

Polymnia Dimitroulaki from Heraklion, Crete, says that the “Europa Cruise” arrived at the port of Patras after 48 difficult hours. “We lived through 12 soulwrenching hours, freezing from the cold, and they didn’t even give us one blanket, not a cup of tea, or water. Thankfully there were a few Greek crewmembers that gave us life jackets and helped us reach the deck.”

Ms. Dimitroulaki says that the moments on the burning filmm were gutwrenching. “The Italians kicked us,” she says. “They gave me a life jacket and wouldn’t let me reach the deck. They gave me the life jacket and only let their own pass by, just Italians.”

“We put on life jackets with my husband and then an Italian came that threw me a lifesaver and took one of his own upstairs,” she says.

Argyris Stavros

Argyris Stavros was the person who made the call about the fire on the ship. He told Proto Thema that nothing can compare to the nightmare on the Norman Atlantic. He refered to men pushing women and children just to get up the stairs and reach the rescue helicopter. “I was able to contact seven friends in Italy and called the emergency number because no crew members could be found. Nobody told us anything and nobody helped us. We did everything alone. If anyone helped us and is responsible for us being alive right now, it’s God, just God!”