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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
Cruise Ship Blast Kills 4, Injures 20
Aired May 26, 2003 - 06:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The investigation aboard a cruise ship will start in earnest today. Four crew members were killed when a boiler exploded aboard one of the world's oldest running cruise ships. Twenty other crew members are hurt.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has more on the tragedy aboard the SS Norway.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An engine room steam boiler blew up an hour after the SS Norway docked in Miami, following a week-long Caribbean cruise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no indication whatsoever that there is any criminal activity. There is no evidence of any sabotage ...
CANDIOTTI: Some passengers say they heard at least three explosions. This woman was on deck when she was startled by the first.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I went back to the cabin. I could smell fuel. Then there was two more explosions. Then I really went out of the cabin and said -- looked over the shore, then there was the police, coast guard, and stuff. They was coming on the boat.
CANDIOTTI: The ship's crew in the boiler room and just outside it on the bottom deck suffered the brunt of the blast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst place to be would have been in the immediate vicinity of that escaping high pressure, very high temperature steam.
CANDIOTTI: The intense heat severely burned crewmembers. The explosion so powerful, it blew some of the crew outside an opened cargo door. Four propelled into the water and rescued by rope. No passengers were injured, but had a hard time finding out what happened in the moments after the explosion. This man just woke up in his cabin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard the bang and we just got out of there and went to the lifeboat.
CANDIOTTI: No lifeboats necessary. Passengers were escorted off the ship and waited for transportation home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Norway is a steam ship. And this was one of the boilers that creates the steam for the steam power.
CANDIOTTI: The ship has been sailing for more than 40 years. Norwegian Cruise Line bills it as the longest passenger ship in service. It has had at least one major renovation. The cruise line says its boilers are regularly maintained.
For passengers on this trip, an unexpected ending to their vacation. For those scheduled to leave Sunday night on the Norway's next cruise, they're out of luck. The ship will be out of service indefinitely.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, at the Port of Miami.
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