A large tanker slammed into a docked river cruise ship on the Mississippi River in New Orleans on Friday, capsizing the vessel and setting off a major rescue operation. Officials said everyone aboard was accounted for and no one died, calling the outcome a miracle.
The tanker, identified as the Atlantic Asphalt, struck the paddlewheel boat American Heritage at about 12:30 p.m. local time while it was docked near the French Quarter at the Port of New Orleans, the port said. The boat was partially submerged and ended up on its side in the river.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno said the tanker lost control and collided with the cruise ship. She said 32 people were taken to local hospitals, none with critical injuries. According to officials, those hospitalized included 30 passengers and two officers who ended up in the water. Others were treated at the scene for minor injuries. No one aboard the tanker was hurt, Moreno said.
Officials gave differing counts of the number of people on the riverboat, ranging from nearly 130 passengers to nearly 200 people in total. Moreno said passengers began leaving the boat after the first impact, but it then began to sink and eventually flipped over.
Harbor Police were the first to respond and went into the river to pull people out, while New Orleans firefighters lowered ladders over the dock to reach those in the water. Other vessels on the river also helped with the rescue, Moreno said, and a Coast Guard crew flew over the site.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry flew to New Orleans and joined Moreno at a news conference. He described the fact that everyone survived as a miracle on the Mississippi.
American Cruise Lines, which manages the American Heritage, said in a statement that the tanker hit the riverboat while it was docked near the French Quarter.
Public records show the Atlantic Asphalt is based in the Marshall Islands and is owned by Chinese and Liberian companies. Officials said the tanker lost control before the collision.
Video from the scene showed the much larger tanker hitting the paddlewheel boat as metal and glass crumpled. The boat did not show major damage at first but gradually took on water and sank, with quite a few people still on board when it went down, the police chief said.
Witnesses described screams for help as passengers were pulled from the water. One passenger's wife told reporters her husband was taken to a hospital with a head injury, and another witness recalled seeing an elderly man bleeding from his forehead.
