One person has been killed and four others injured – two critically – after a lifeboat fell from the world’s biggest cruise liner, Harmony of the Seas, which was docked in the French port of Marseille on Tuesday morning.
According to La Provence, the local newspaper, five members of the ship’s navigation crew were on board when the lifeboat became detached.
The accident is understood to have taken place during a basic security drill.
“One person has died and four suffered multiple injuries with two in a critical condition and two seriously hurt but stable,” said a spokesman for Marseille’s marine emergency service. “The lifeboat became detached” from the boat owned by Royal Caribbean, an American company, said a police source.
Julien Ruas, of the Marseille marine services, said the lifeboat “fell 10 metres” with the five people inside. “All were members of the crew,” he said. The deceased was a 42- year-old man of Philippine nationality. At 1,188 feet from bow to stern, Harmony of the Seas is 125 feet longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower and one foot longer than the previous record-breaking cruise ships Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas. (Sources: Figaro, Daily Telegraph, La Provence)