Ships and helicopters are taking part in a major rescue operation after an Italian ferry carrying 478 people caught fire north-west of Corfu.

One person has died after jumping from the ship and another has been confirmed injured, officials say.

A total of 172 people have been rescued but more than 300 remain on the Norman Atlantic which was travelling from Patras in Greece to Ancona in Italy.

Choppy seas and strong winds are hampering the night-time rescue.

Most of those on board were Greek. Others came from Italy, Turkey, Albania, Germany and many other countries, officials said.

The British ambassador to Greece said officials were investigating reports that two Britons were on board.

Italian media say the fire broke out on the ferry’s car deck before spreading.

Rescued passengers include a seven-month pregnant woman and her two children, who are all being treated for hypothermia, according to Italian media reports.

‘Shoes melting’

Two Italian and two Greek helicopters are taking turns to winch passengers from the ship, two at a time, Greek officials say.

“This is a complicated rescue mission… The visibility is poor and the weather conditions are difficult, but we are confident because there are a good number of ships in the area,” Greece Merchant Marine Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said.

Mr Varvitsiotis later told reporters the fire had been brought partly under control.

“It will be a very difficult night, a night in which we hope we will be able to rescue all on board,” he said.

Nearby merchant vessels aligned themselves in formation to protect the ship from waves and facilitate the rescue.

Passengers are being airlifted off the burning ferry but helicopters have been hampered by bad weather

This photo taken by a nearby ship shows other vessels trying to extinguish the fire

The fire is believed to have started in the ship’s car deck

Passengers have been waiting on the ferry’s upper decks to be rescued

Italian and Albanian teams are also taking part in the rescue operation – some 19 nautical miles from the Albanian coast.

One of the passengers told Greek TV station Mega: “On the lower deck, where the lifeboats are, our shoes were starting to melt from the heat.”

Another passenger told the same station that smoke was engulfing the ship.

“We are outside, we are very cold, the ship is full of smoke, the boat is still burning, the floors are boiling, underneath the cabins it must be burning since 5 o’clock, the boats that came (to rescue us) are gone, and we are here. They cannot take us,” they said.

Lucy Williamson reports on what officials have called “one of the most complicated rescue operations” the country has attempted