Six people were rescued from boat, which was forced to return to Newcastle after blaze broke out
Two men have been arrested after a fire on board a ferry sparked an emergency rescue and forced it to return to Newcastle.
Two crew members and four passengers had to be winched off the North Sea ferry after they breathed in smoke when the blaze broke out in a cabin room 30 miles from land at around 11pm on Saturday night.
A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson and a 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of affray, a spokeswoman for Northumbria police said.
Gert Jakobsen, a spokesman for the ferry operator DFDS Seaways, said the King Seaways ferry would not be continuing its journey to Amsterdam and instead would wait till its next scheduled departure to the city on Monday morning.
RAF helicopters from Leconfield near Hull and Boulmer, Northumberland, were scrambled to the vessel along with RNLI lifeboats from Bridlington and Filey.
Jakobsen added that he expected the injured crew and passengers flown to Scarborough hospital to be released later on Sunday. A further 15 passengers and eight crew members were treated by doctors for smoke-related injuries on board the ship.
He said the company would try to help passengers forced to abandon their trip to Amsterdam to find alternative crossings.
"We are very sorry for those passengers who have not only been affected by the fire but now by these delays. We are looking at how we can help them.
"The cabin that was burned is very damaged and there has been some smoke damage to surrounding cabins but the ship's function has not been affected in any way and is safe to travel."
According to the DFDS Seaways website, the 26-year-old vessel has room for over 1,500 passengers and 600 cars. It was renovated in 2006. It offers entertainment including restaurants, bars, a nightclub and a casino.
A passenger on board said she had to leave the outer deck when the alarm was raised. "We were all sat upstairs when the alarm went off and the captain came on the tannoy and told us to evacuate to the outer deck because there was a fire," Olivia Elliott told Sky News.
"We were out there for about 40 minutes and then we had to wait in the nightclub area."
source Guardian
No comments:
Post a Comment