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Fire leaves 4,500 stranded on cruise ship in Pacific

Updated: 2010-11-11 13:04

A luxury cruise ship stranded off Mexico's coast in the Pacific with nearly 4,500 people on board was being towed to San Diego, California late on Tuesday, more than 24 hours after an engine fire broke out.

Tugboats were scrambled to rescue the Carnival Splendor, some 320 km south of San Diego after an engine fire early on Monday left the ship with minimal power, said Carnival Cruise Lines.

It said the engine failure left the passengers with no air conditioning or hot food.

"Conditions on board the ship are very challenging and we sincerely apologize for the discomfort and inconvenience our guests are currently enduring," said company president Gerry Cahill.

The fire erupted in the raft engine room around 6 am on Monday, and was extinguished with no injuries to guests or crew - but the ship, carrying 3,299 passengers and 1,167 crew, was left without very important services.

After the alarm was sounded passengers were told to immediately leave their cabins and all move to the ship's upper open deck areas. They were all allowed to return to their accommodations after the fire was put out.

Tug boats were dispatched to the stranded ship and were reportedly towing it to San Diego - instead of the northern Mexican port of Ensenada as had been reported earlier, Baja California state authorities said late on Tuesday.

The critical decision to have the Carnival Splendor passengers "disembark at San Diego port" was made after an evaluation of the ship's situation by "authorities from both countries" and the cruise line.

The reason for the change of destination was not given, and earlier cruise line spokesman Vance Gulliksen stressed that the "vast majority" of the passengers were Americans.

The Baja California tourism office said it remained unclear as to when the ship would reach port in California.

Questions:

1. What is the name of the ship?

2. How many people are onboard?

3. What time did the fire break out?

Answers:

1. Carnival Splendor.

2. 4,500.

3. 6 am.

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

Fire leaves 4,500 stranded on cruise ship in Pacific

About the broadcaster:

Fire leaves 4,500 stranded on cruise ship in Pacific

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.