December 25, 2009 a fire on a Greek-owned Aegean Wind cargo ship in the Caribbean killed 9 crew members and wounded 5 others, msnbc website reports referring to Associated Press.

According to Venezuelan state television, 6 of the dead crew members were from Philippines and three from Greece. Initially, they had been listed as missing.

Aegean Wind was carrying over 37,000 tons of iron ore from Brazil to Houston, when a blaze broke out in the mess hall on Friday, the source informs.

A helicopter, a hydroplane and several ships were sent from Venezuela to the emergency site. Although the fire was contained, there was thick smoke coming from the ship making rescue operations difficult.

Aegean Wind had a 24-member crew made up of 15 Filipinos and nine Greeks, the source says.

L.A.