13 dead in liner gangway collapse
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Rescue workers surround the Queen Mary II cruise liner.
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PARIS, France (CNN) -- Thirteen people have died and 32 were injured at a shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France, when a gangway leading to the world's largest passenger ship, Queen Mary 2, collapsed, police said.
"A dockside gangway collapsed as up to 50 visitors were walking onto the liner," said Jean Marc Falcone, under prefect of the Loire Atlantique.
Ten of the injured were in critical condition, said Joel Batteux, mayor of the town in western France where the Queen Mary 2 is in its final stages of construction.
Most of the victims in the accident, which occurred at 2:30 p.m. (1330 GMT), were children, a police official with the commissariat de police de Saint-Nazaire said.
Immediately after the accident occurred at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, owned by the French engineering company Alstom, a "plan rouge," or "red plan," was put into effect to coordinate the rescue efforts, Falcone said.
"On behalf of all of us at Cunard, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families of those who are killed or injured in this tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with their friends and relatives at this time of sorrow," said Pamela Conover, the line's president and chief operating officer, in a statement.
Officials were trying to determine the identities of the victims.
The luxury cruise liner -- dubbed QM2 for short -- is according to her owners, Cunard, the largest, longest, tallest, widest and grandest ocean liner ever built.
The $800 million, 150,000-ton vessel can carry 2,620 passengers and 1,253 crew members. The ship features a planetarium, 22 elevators and the world's largest floating library. Its top speed is 34.5 mph.
The QM2 is almost finished and had been to sea twice for sea trials.
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At 1,132 feet in length, it is 113 feet longer than the original Queen Mary and 166 feet longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall (986 feet).
The ship is due to be handed over to Cunard shortly before Christmas.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II -- after whom QM2's sister ship the QE2 is named -- is then due to name Queen Mary 2 at a ceremony at Southampton, England on January 8, 2004.
Earlier this month the ship underwent two rounds of offshore trials ahead of its maiden voyage in January.
On Monday 12 January, Queen Mary 2 is schduled to embark on the 14 day maiden sailing from Southampton to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
