Five people died and another three were injured today when a lifeboat fell from the Thomson Majesty, the newest cruise ship in the Thomson Cruises fleet that was docked in La Palma, Canary Islands, which are part of Spain. All of the eight people affected by the lifeboat accident were crew members of Thomson (occasionally misspelled “Thompson”), which is owned by the German company TUI. The lifeboat fell off the vessel during an emergency drill, plummeting nearly 100 feet (30 meters) and then crashing into the water below. Although there were about 2,000 passengers on board the Thomson Majesty, none of them were involved in the emergency drill.
Not a lot is known yet about the accident. The cause of the accident has not yet been determined, and the names of the victims have not been released. However, it is being reported that a Ghanaian, a Filipino, and three Indonesians died, and that two Greeks and one Filipino were injured. It is believed that all of the victims were men.
As of this writing, a Thomson spokesman has said only this about the accident:
“Thomson Cruises is aware of an incident involving the ship’s crew on board Thomson Majesty, in La Palma, Canary Islands this afternoon. We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident. More information will be released as it becomes available.”