(CNN) - Hundreds of desperate passengers are enduring freezing conditions on a stricken ferry that has been burning in the Adriatic Sea for 24 hours.


Helicopters with night vision equipment have been working through the night to pull them off, one by one.


In the early hours of Monday morning, the Italian Coast Guard announced that 251 people had been rescued from the Norman Atlantic, which had been traveling between the Greek port of Igoumenitsa and the Italian port of Ancona when fire broke out deep in the parking hold.

Authorities said 227 remained on board, including the captain, who was helping to coordinate the rescues.


After waiting hours to be rescued, one Greek man told Italian state broadcaster RAI TV that passengers were "dying of cold and suffocating from the smoke," and that their feet were "burning" from the heat of the flames.


One man died after he jumped or fell into the cold and rough water, authorities said. Other passengers were suffering hypothermia in the freezing temperatures, worsened by the spray of tugboat hoses as authorities attempted to douse the flames.


Dramatic cell phone images filmed by a passenger showed flames through shattered portholes, while a wider view released by rescuers showed a huge plume of thick, black smoke streaming from the stricken vessel.


Rescue efforts

In the first three hours of the blaze, around 150 people were able to escape via the vessel's lifeboats. But when the ferry lost power, the electronic arms were unable to function, leaving the boats dangling uselessly by its side.


Many passengers were also unable to reach the lower decks because of the heat, and the water below was so cold that jumping clear of the ferry was not an option.

Chai,