Criminal charges may be brought over QM2 deaths
Prosecutors could bring criminal charges over the gangplank collapse which killed 15 people trying to board a flagship British cruise liner, it emerged tonight.
The victims, who were all French, plunged 50ft feet while trying to board the Queen Mary 2 at a dry dock in Saint Nazaire, western France.
QM2 – worth £550 million – is the largest and most expensive passenger ship ever built and was due to sail to Southampton next month ahead of its maiden passenger voyage to the US.
The vessel’s operators Cunard have said they will only be able to confirm the existing schedule after discussing the matter with the shipyard.
French President Jacques Chirac headed a Government delegation who arrived in the afternoon.
Local prosecutor Pierre-Marie Block has opened an investigation into the accident.
Yesterday’s accident initially claimed 13 lives, but two others died of injuries by this morning. A child about 10 years old has been reported among the dead.
Up to 32 others were injured, and all but two remained in hospital, six in a critical condition, according to Philippe Bouquet-Nadaud of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, which is building the ship.
Mourners signed a condolence book and left bouquets of roses, lilies and carnations outside the gate of the vast shipyard.
The Queen was expected to officially name the vessel in a ceremony on January 8 next year before it carries 2,620 passengers on its sold-out voyage to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Dozens of people were on the gangway to board the liner when it gave way, rescue workers said.
A spokesman for Alstom, which owns the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard, said two groups of families of engineers who had worked on the ship were being shown around the liner when the accident happened.
“At the bottom, everyone was screaming, and blood was everywhere,” said Jessica, 21, who went on French television with swollen eyelids and bruises covering her face.
Pamela Conover, president of Cunard, said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with their friends and relatives at this time of sorrow.”
The gangplank connecting the ship to the dock was believed to have been constructed temporarily for the open day and would not have been used by passengers, a spokesman for the company said.
QM2 will be the longest, tallest and most expensive passenger ship when it is completed. It is 1,138ft long and as tall as a 23-storey building.
It will later take over the trans-Atlantic route of Cunard’s current flagship, the QE2.
The shipyard itself was to be closed tomorrow for a day of mourning.
Flags flew at half-mast over police stations and the concrete city hall in St. Nazaire, which lives off heavy industries such as ship and airplane construction.
