First group of ferry victims reach safety

A cargo ship with 49 survivors from a ferry that caught fire in the Adriatic Sea has arrived in the Italian port of Bari, the first big group of victims to reach land.

The Spirit of Piraeus came ashore after first trying to dock overnight down the coast in Brindisi. Rough seas forced a change in plans.

More than 200 more passengers and crew remain stranded aboard the smoke-filled ferry adrift between Italy and Albania.

Two dual-Australians were among those trapped.