By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Authorities began evacuating a tourist boat carrying 280 people that ran aground and was taking on water Thursday off the coast of Poros, an island near Athens.
Three helicopters, a military transport plane, coast guard vessels and nearby boats were involved in the effort to evacuate the "Giorgis" ship, which had been on a three-island cruise of Saronic Gulf, authorities said.
The Merchant Marine Ministry, which coordinates rescue operations, said it had not received reports of any injuries.
"We are loading the first boat now ... It's quite difficult because the sea is choppy. But otherwise the weather is OK," said Giorgos Koutsoukos, of the Poros boatsmen's association, told state-run NET television from the rescue scene.
He said each rescue boat could carry about 50 people.
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