(11:17 am) Earlier this morning around 7 am EST, five people were killed and multiple injured while the Thomson Majesty was performing a routine muster drill in the port of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands.
During the drill, the cable crane of one of the lifeboats snapped, causing the lifeboat to fall more than 60 feet into the water with 8 crew members trapped inside. It appears that these crew members were not secured inside the lifeboat by the time it fell.
Three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian were killed, the BBC reports. The injured were all men, two aged 30, and another, a Greek national, was 32-years-old, a statement from the islands’ Emergency and Security Coordination Center said.
(11:51 am) Statement from Thomson Cruises:
“We are aware of an incident involving the ship’s crew on board Thomson Majesty, in La Palma, Canary Islands this afternoon.
We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident.”
(1:24 pm) New photo released from the BBC.
(2:08 pm) I have just received the following statement from a spokesperson for Thomson Cruises:
“Thomson Cruises can confirm there was an incident involving the ship’s crew during a safety drill on board Thomson Majesty, in La Palma, Canary Islands today at 11:50am local time.
We can also confirm that there have sadly been five crew fatalities and three crew injuries. One person has been discharged from hospital and we expect the other two people to be released from hospital imminently. Our thoughts are with the families of those involved.
We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident. We are also working closely with all relevant authorities and will be co-operating fully with their investigations.”
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More on this tragedy as it develops, stay tuned.
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Header image: ALAMY
