By John Phillips

ROME

The captain of the Norman Atlantic was interrogated for five hours today as investigators said 98 people from the ferry are still missing and feared dead from the fire onboard and subsequent emergency.

"There are 98 persons of whom we have no news," said Bari Prosecutor Giuseppe Volpe.

Mimmo Consales, the mayor of the Italian port city of Brindisi, where 212 survivors of the drama have arrived, underlined deep public concern over the handling of the rescue operation, saying "now the missing are 98, and I ask myself how many lives could have been saved by more rapid rescue with the base in (the Albanian port of) Valona."

Officially 13 people are listed as dead including two Albanian sailors killed in salvage work but the scores of missing mean the death toll is expected to climb, probably once the vessel is inspected and more bodies may be found inside, judicial sources say.

While the Italian Prime Minister was quick to hail the rescue as a triumph it is now evident that it was a major tragedy.

The captain of the ferry, Argilio Giacomazzi, was interrogated for more than five hours early this morning and had been placed under investigation together with the ship's owner, Carlo Visentini, on suspicion of negligence causing a shipwreck and multiple manslaughter, judicial officials say. Giacomazzi insists that all safety procedures were followed correctly but magistrates believe that there was an overbooking of passengers, explaining partially why so many are still listed as missing.

Judge Volpe said at least 19 passengers were overbooked, while judicial sources say there was also evidently overbooking of the number of trucks loaded on the ferry, some of which according to witnesses touched the roof of its garage, causing friction that may have sparked the blaze that raced through the vessel.

Survivors have said that the alarm was given late after the fire started at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday and that the crew stood by and did little to help the evacuation of passengers. Investigators want to know why so few lifeboats were lowered.

Judicial sources speculate that other crew members are likely to be placed under investigation as well as the Greek company, Arek Lines, that managed the ship leased from Visentini's Visemar company.

While the ferry was given clearance to operate following an official inspection in Patras earlier this month, six problems were discovered including defective fireproof doors. Commentators say that lax inspections of ferries has become an open scandal in the Mediterranean with officials in Greece and Italy turning a blind eye to blatant flaunting of safety standards.

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