Queen Mary 2 Tragedy - 12 dead in gangway collapse

[sailinglisa]

ST. NAZAIRE, France - A gangway connecting the Queen Mary 2 to a dock collapsed Saturday as dozens of people were crossing it to visit what will be the world's largest passenger ship. At least 12 people were killed and 32 injured, fire officials said.

 The victims were family members of workers on the 21-story-tall ocean liner, which is dry docked at this Atlantic coastal shipyard for finishing touches before its maiden voyage, planned for January.

The relatives had been given permission to tour the ship Saturday. They crowded on to the access gangway connecting the dock to the ship when the structure collapsed, said Herve Malherbe, chief aid at the Loire-Atlantic prefecture. It was not immediately known how high up the gangway was.

Ten of the injured were in serious condition, according to the Operational Center Fire and Rescue Center. A child was among the injured, it added, though French radio reports said several children were hurt.

Dozens of firefighters and rescue workers rushed to the scene of the accident, setting up medical units to treat the injured.

The 150,000-ton trans-Atlantic liner has had its first two test runs, most recently in September. It is to make its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in January.

Britain's Cunard Lines, which operates the vessel and is owned by Carnival Corp. , sent sympathies to the victims' families. "Our thoughts are prayers are with their friends and relatives at this time of sorrow," said the president and chief operating officer Pamela Conover.

Once completed, the $800 million QM2  the world's longest, tallest and most expensive passenger ship  will feature a planetarium, 22 elevators and the world's largest floating library.

It will top an illustrious list of massive passenger ships.

The Queen Elizabeth 2  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.

In sheer size, the QM2 tops them all. It's 377 yards long and 79 yards high  or about the height of a 21-story building. It will weigh more than twice the QE2's 70,000 tons.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s Voyager-class ships, about 138,000 tons, are currently the largest cruise ships in service.

The QM2 is being built by Alstom Marine's Chantiers de l'Atlantique, and some 800 companies, mostly French, have been involved in the construction.

The QM2 has generated a lot of interest, with Chantiers de l'Atlantique saying it had received at least 150,000 letters from people asking to come aboard for a look.

[Brady121291]

That's one of those things that just make you cringe, those people who died were probably having the time of their lives, and then suddenly something like this happens, you always hear of these cruise tragedies, and you just pray that it doesn't happen to you. :cry:

[Joanandjoe]

I remember well this tragedy that occurred three years ago, in November, 2003. I'm not sure why Sailing lisa posted it now.

[KeithnRita]

The post from Lisa is Nov 15, 2003. One of our new members just responded to it. My first thought when seeing the title was "not again", until I read the story and date.