DFA verifying reports of Filipino killed in cruise ship accident

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday said that it was still verifying reports that a Filipino was among the five people reported killed after a lifeboat they were in fell into the sea from a cruise ship docked at the port of Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands Sunday.

“Our Philippine Embassy in Madrid, who has jurisdiction over the area, is already aware of the incident and of the news reports about the incident but they would like to verify these reports with the local authorities in Canary Islands,” Raul Hernandez, Assistant Secretary and DFA spokesperson Raul Hernandez told reporters in a briefing Monday.

Wire reports earlier reported that five crew members – a Filipino, a Ghanaian and three Indonesian crewmen – were killed during a routine emergency drill on the Thomson Majesty, a cruise ship operated by the British company Thomson Cruises, during a routine emergency drill.

“Cables snapped on a lifeboat and it plunged 20 meters (65 feet) to the ocean and fell upside down, killing the five and injuring three others aboard,” the reports said.

The report, quoting a Thomson Cruises spokesman, noted that there were 1,498 passengers on board the 20-year-old ship at the time of the incident but none of them was involved in the mishap.