Five people have died on a cruise ship operated by the holiday firm Thomson after a lifeboat fell from the vessel during an emergency drill at La Palma in the Canary Islands, according to Spanish officials and reports.
Three other people were injured in the incident on the Thomson Majesty, the most modern addition to the company’s fleet of cruise liners, which was moored at the island’s capital, Santa Cruz.
Government officials quoted emergency services as saying crews were sent to the dock just after midday local time after “a lifeboat with occupants had fallen overboard from a cruise ship docked at the pier”.
Spanish reports identified the ship as the Majesty and said those dead were believed to be three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian.
The country’s media quoted police as saying the boat, carrying eight members of the ship’s crew, dropped 30m into the water before overturning. It was not known what caused the boat to fall. Those injured, two of whom were badly hurt, were two Greek nationals and one Filipino. According to the report about 2,000 passengers were on board the Majesty. No passengers were involved in the exercise. –(Guardian service)