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Will She Tip Over? Norwegian Cruise Ship Listing Dangerously After Fire

Will She Tip Over? Norwegian Cruise Ship Listing Dangerously After Fire

The MS Nordlys sits stricken in the water at Aalesund in western Norway.

Hakon Mosvold Larsen

Norway’s VG-TV is streaming video from the scene as workers try to keep the cruise ship MS Nordlys from tipping over.

As The Associated Press writes, a fire on board Thursday “killed two crew and forced the evacuation of 260 other people” as the ship was preparing to dock in Aalesund, about 230 miles northwest of Oslo. It’s thought that there was an explosion in the engine room.

“Thick black smoke billowed from the stern of the ship, operated by the Hurtigruten line, when it sailed into Aalesund,” the AP adds.

Now, the ship is “listing nearly 22 degrees after taking on too much water,” the Norway International Network reports. According to the AP, 20 degrees “is considered a critical line.”

Russia Today is among the news outlets with video of the smoke pouring out of the ship as it came to port.

Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

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