How ship holiday turned to hell
2006-03-24 18:19
Tony Winton
Montego Bay - A Caribbean cruise vacation for more than 2 600 people was over on Friday after a fire ignited aboard the gigantic ship, charring some 150 rooms and leaving a passenger dead and 11 people injured.
"We believe the best course of action is to terminate the current cruise in Montego Bay," Princess Cruises said in a statement late on Thursday.
"All passengers currently onboard will be flown home over the next two days, and will receive a full refund of their cruise and air fare."
About 1 600 people were expected to fly out on Friday and the rest on Saturday, said Paul Pennicook, Jamaica's director of tourism.
The rising sun on Friday showed a big charred spot on the Star Princess, evidence of the fire that broke out before dawn on Thursday.
"We consider ourselves very lucky," Toronto resident Klemens Fass said after he and his wife were evacuated with other passengers.
"When we got out of our stateroom ... there was someone lying in the hallway passed out. He was being attended to but it was very, very scary."
Man collapsed and died
A smoldering cigarette is thought to have started the blaze, said Horace Peterkin, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, who toured the ship after it docked.
"This is the first time such a tragedy has occurred during the history of our company, and we are devastated by this incident," the statement from Princess Cruises said.
Karl Angell, communications director for the Jamaican police, identified the dead man as Richard Liffidge, 75, of Georgia. He collapsed aboard ship and died, authorities said.
After the fire started at about 03:00, passengers grabbed life jackets and raced to "muster stations" said Julie Benson, spokesperson for Princess Cruises, which is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corporation.
The crew put out the fire and then did a cabin-by-cabin check, she said.
The Star Princess was sailing from Grand Cayman to Jamaica when the blaze started.
Reportedly built at a cost of over $430m, it has four swimming pools, half a dozen restaurants and dining rooms, a casino, two theaters, and several nightclubs. It stretches about three football fields long.
- SAPA