Hundreds evacuated as Norwegian cruise ship catches fire; 2 dead, 9 injured in b

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Hundreds evacuated as Norwegian cruise ship catches fire; 2 dead, 9 injured in

blaze

By Bjoern H. Amland, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 47 minutes ago

OSLO - An " intense " fire in a cruise ship's engine room killed two crewmen

Thursday, injured nine others and forced over 200 passengers to evacuate a

popular cruise off Norway's craggy western coast. Police suspect an on-board

explosion.

Thick black smoke billowed from the stern of the boat, the MS Nordlys, of

Norway's Hurtigruten line even before it pulled into the dock at Aalesund, 230

miles (375 kilometres) northwest of the capital of Oslo. Police sealed off parts

of the town as the smoke engulfed nearby buildings.

The ship's emergency evacuation began after the fire started at 9 a.m. (0700

GMT), with more than 100 passengers piling into lifeboats in the frigid waters.

The rest of the ship's 207 passengers and 55 crew were evacuated at the dock at

Aalesund, with some crew staying on board to fight the fire.

Aalesund Hospital said nine people had been admitted, two with serious burns and

smoke injuries. Police said all of the injured and dead were members of the

ship's crew.

" Our suspicion is that there was an explosion in the machine room, " Acting

Police Chief Yngve Skovly of the Sunnmoere Police District told reporters later

Thursday.

Passengers said the cruise ship, which was travelling north from the city of

Bergen, had organized an orderly evacuation.

" We were sent up on deck and given our lifevests, " le Passebois-Paya, a

French tourist, told Norwegian daily Aftenposten. " It took only a few minutes

after the alarm and we were in the lifeboats. "

" It was a well-organized evacuation, " she added. " The crew did a really good

job. Everything was calm and went smoothly. There was no panic. "

The chief of Aalesund's fire brigade, Geir Thorsen, described the fire as " big

and intense. " He could not confirm reports that the ship's fire-extinguishing

system did not work, but said its electricity system was knocked out.

" There are no indications that the fire had spread to other rooms in the ship, "

he said.

Over six hours after the fire began, Thorsen said firefighters were now in

control of it, but the ship was taking in water and listing 10 degrees.

" Our main challenge now is the stability of the ship, " he said. Two units of

firefighters specializing in offshore fires were involved in the operation.

The MS Nordlys plies Norway's western coast on the popular 1,500-mile

(2,500-kilometre) cruise between the southwestern city of Bergen and the

northern town of Kirkenes, high above the Arctic Circle near the Russian border.

The route features spectacular fjords, mountains, islands and Arctic wildlife,

and carries both tourists eager to see the scenery and locals and cargo from

coastal cities and hamlets.

Aalesund, with a population of 42,000, is an Art Nouveau town once voted the

prettiest in Norway.