A crowded, day-old gangway leading to the world’s largest cruise ship, the Queen Mary II, has collapsed, sending workers and family members on a special tour plunging to their deaths.
At least 13 people were killed and 32 others injured, including 10 who were hospitalised in a serious condition, in Saturday’s accident, rescue officials said.
The gangway was installed on Friday especially for a weekend visit by workers and their families of the nearly complete ocean liner before its maiden voyage planned for January.
As dozens of people crowded on to the gangway, the structure collapsed, pulling down scaffolding holding it up at one end, sending people plunging 15m to the ground, and transformed the luxury liner into a horrifying scene of bodies entangled in wreckage.
”The passage gave way and we fell about 50 feet,” said Jason Schmitt, a worker who escaped without injury.
”I fell with a minimum of 30 people,” he told France-2 television.
The cause of the collapse was not immediately known. An investigation was under way.
The 21-story-tall oceanliner was dry-docked at an Atlantic coastal shipyard for finishing touches before its maiden voyage.
Britain’s Cunard Lines, which operates the vessel and is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corporation in the United States, said the voyage from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, would likely go ahead as planned.
”To the best of our knowledge, the ship will sail on January 12, as scheduled,” said Julie Davis, a spokesperson in Miami for Cunard.
Cunard Lines issued a statement offering ”thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families. It made no comment on the accident itself.
French President Jacques Chirac was to visit the shipyard on Sunday.
Philippe Bouquet-Nadeaud, the shipyard’s head of human resources, said the gangway was installed on Friday by a company specialised in scaffolding for boats.
The accident came just four days after ship completed its second successful sea trial. The first was in September.
The Queen Mary II is the world’s largest passenger ship at 342m long and 71m high — as tall as a 21-storey building.
It is also the most expensive, costing $800-million to build.
Once completed, the Queen Mary II will feature a planetarium, 22 elevators and the world’s largest floating library.
The inaugural voyage is sold out, and many reservations have been made since the whole season of sailings was opened to booking in August 2002, said Davis, the Cunard spokesperson.
The Queen Mary II will top an illustrious list of massive passenger ships.
The Queen Elizabeth II — whose trans-Atlantic route will be taken over by the new ship in April — was built in 1967; the original Queen Mary was launched in 1934 and is now a hotel in Long Beach, California.
Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Voyager-class ships are currently the largest cruise ships in service.
The Queen Mary II is being built by Alstom Marine’s Chantiers de l’Atlantique, and about 800 companies, mostly French, have been involved in the construction.
Chantiers de l’Atlantique says it has received at least 150 000 letters from people asking to come aboard for a look. — Sapa-AP