Deadly waves hit ship off Spanish coast by Magdalena Rosova

Three huge waves struck the ship off the coast of northeast Spain on Wednesday. The sip carried 1.350 passengers and 580 crew members, from a total of 27 countries. The waves shattered the windows and water poured into the ship and filled several floors. After ceiling of the lounge caved in, panic and chaos burst out. People were screaming and grabbing life vests. Givoanni Zanoni, passenger of the ship, said he saw huge shard of glass hit a man in the face, killing him. Louise Crusise Lines, the ship's owner and operator, siad the ship was struck by three waves more tan 10 meters high. Two people died and 14 were hurt and taken to hospital. The accident happened in ! the area called the Gulf of Leon, which is known for big waves when storms hit. The ship was on a 12-day cruise in the western Mediterranean and had been due to return to Genoa on Thursday. Passengers said that as they left Cartagena in eastern Spain the weather was terrible and therefore the captain decided to ship the planned stop in Barcelona and go straight to Italy. Amateur video taken by a passenger showed a huge wave hitting the lounge are, water pouring in and people screaming and trying to save their lives. Claudine Armand of France, who was in cabin with her husband at that time, said they saw a huge wave that had gone up above their level. Then the wave hit the ship and when they came out of the room, ship was full of water.

related story (sgx16680): http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/104163...

by Magdalena Rosova for SigEx Ventures (http://sigexventures.com)

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