Ferry Rescue: Police Make Arson Arrest

A 26-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire alert on a North Sea ferry sparked an emergency evacuation.

Northumbria Police said they had also arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of affray.

Two crew members and four passengers had to be winched off the ferry, which was heading to Amsterdam, after they inhaled smoke when the fire broke out 30 miles off the Humberside coast.

The six people were taken to Scarborough Hospital by RAF helicopter but are not thought to be in a serious condition.

A further 15 passengers and eight crew members were treated by doctors for smoke-related injuries on board the ferry.

The ferry was forced to loop back when it was 30 miles off Flamborough Head

The fire broke out in a cabin on the DFDS King Seaways ferry at around 10.45pm on Saturday night and was extinguished "within 15 minutes", according to the company.

RAF helicopters from Leconfield near Hull, and Boulmer, Northumberland were scrambled to the vessel along with two RNLI lifeboats from Bridlington and Filey.

The 30,000-tonne ship arrived back at Newcastle Ferry Port, in North Shields, at around 4am and passengers were kept on board until 9am while police investigated.

Police said earlier that a passenger had been detained by the ship's staff following the incident.

Olivia Elliott, who was in a nightclub on the ferry when the alarm went off, told Sky News she "panicked" not knowing how serious the situation was.

"(It was) scary out there in the middle of the ocean. You've never been in that situation before - you don't know what to do."

This photo of the RAF helicopter was taken by a passenger

She added: "The captain came on the tannoy and said we needed to evacuate to the outer deck because there had been a fire.

"We were outside for about 40 minutes before we were allowed to go back in."

Despite the emergency, she said most people remained calm.

Another passenger, Steven Basford, said: "They sounded the fire alarms, high-pitched alarms, and then made an announcement we would have to evacuate to an outside deck.

"Then, when we started to evacuate to go further up the boat, you could see smoke in the corridors and in the common area and it hit home more then."

Passengers were kept on board until 9am on Sunday while police investigated

Lynn Smith-Davis told Sky News the ship's crew had handled the emergency well but that some passengers had started fighting.

She said: "There was no panic where we were, but then later on when we were inside sitting in the bar and cafe area some people started fighting - fights broke out, which really didn't help the situation."

Were you on board the King Seaways ferry? Email your pictures and video to news@sky.com, text 84501 (costs 25p, network charges vary), or tweet @SkyNews

A spokeswoman for DFDS Seaways said 946 passengers and 127 crew members were on board the King Seaways ferry, which was sailing from Newcastle to Amsterdam.

"Fifteen passengers and eight crew members are reported to have suffered from smoke-related injuries," she said.

Police arrived at the Newcastle Ferry Port in the early hours

"They have been checked by a doctor on-board, and two passengers and four crew members have been taken ashore by helicopter for further medical assistance at a local hospital in the UK.

"We will ensure that passengers and crew affected by the incident will be offered psychological assistance as well as other assistance that might be needed."

A spokesman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "All helicopters and life boats involved have been stood down, however Humber Coastguard is in constant contact with the ferry and an RAF helicopter is on stand-by should it need further assistance."

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.

The company apologised for the inconvenience and said it would try to help passengers find alternative crossings to Amsterdam.

:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Ferry Rescue: Police Make Arson Arrest

Dengan url

http://stopinarkoba.blogspot.com/2013/12/ferry-rescue-police-make-arson-arrest.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Ferry Rescue: Police Make Arson Arrest

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Ferry Rescue: Police Make Arson Arrest

sebagai sumbernya