Five dead on Canary Islands cruise ship

Five crew have been killed after a lifeboat they were in fell from the Thomson cruise ship Majesty while it was docked in the port of Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands.

The accident happened during a routine safety drill at about 12:00 GMT. Three others were also hurt as the lifeboat fell into the sea, trapping occupants.
Those killed include three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian.
The MS Thomson Majesty is operated by UK-based Thomson Cruises.
The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the incident and was "urgently looking into it".


No passengers were involved in the accident, local reports say.
Thomson Cruises said in a statement that it was "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," the statement added.
Reports said the lifeboat fell between 20 and 30 metres into the sea.