17 British Tourists Injured By Glacial Ice Collapsing Onto Deck Of Cruise Ship - BBC

[hatrack]

A group of British holidaymakers were injured on a sightseeing ship in the Arctic when ice fell from a glacier.
A total of 17 British passengers were injured, two seriously, along with one crew member, off the Svalbard Islands, 500km (310 miles) north of Norway.

Ice is thought to have hit the deck of the luxury vessel and fallen into the sea close by causing the ship to list. Four of the injured were flown to a hospital on the Norwegian mainland and 14 were taken to a local hospital. The Russian crew member was among those taken to Tromso on the mainland. None of the injuries are life-threatening.

EDIT

Police said the ship had sailed close to the towering Horn glacier at Svalbard for a better look when ice broke off and hit the vessel's side and deck, where some passengers had gathered. "The Russian captain said they were tight into the Horn glacier when it calved," said another deputy, Petter Braathen.

He said blocks of ice crashed into the water near the ship causing it to be tossed back and forth by the waves "throwing" the passengers around. The son of two passengers onboard the vessel, who wish to remain anonymous, said: "My parents and friends were on board as tourists. It sounded absolutely terrifying."

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6938940.stm

[babylonsister]

1. I'm so relieved global warming had nothing to do with THAT! nt

[Sequoia]

2. No one died thankfully.

Titanic must've ran through their thoughts.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Something odd about that report

On live TV 6 hours ago here in the UK they siad that ice did not hit the ship directly - it hit the water and the wave rocked the boat.

[kestrel91316]

4. I'm sure no one could have forseen a glacier having the unmitigated gall

to calve, in light of the global warming situation......

(...kestrel scratches her head and wanders off, muttering agitatedly...)

[Canuckistanian]

5. The Inuit had a taboo about going close to glaciers and icebergs

They believed that just going close to an iceberg would cause it to attack by dropping shards of ice on them.

Icebergs and glaciers are best viewed from a good distance, especially these days.