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All passengers and crew accounted for in ‘miracle on the Mississippi’
New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno said all passengers and crew have been accounted for in what she called “truly a miracle on the Mississippi.”
She added the ship narrowly missed striking a bridge carrying around 160,000 vehicles daily.
Thirty-two people are now being treated at a local hospital. Those include two New Orleans Harbor Police officers who went into the water to rescue people after the cruise ship began sinking.
Key events
Lucy Campbell
An employee at the Convention Center, who did not want to be named, said she was on the ground floor when she looked up and noticed that, beyond the brick wall that separates the building from the Mississippi, the very tip of the river cruise ship was tilted. Then, she heard screaming. “People were screaming for help,” she said.
She and colleagues assembled wheelchairs and water and other items to be sent in the direction of survivors. “I’m just glad I didn’t see anything, I already hold this deep fear of water.”
All passengers and crew accounted for in ‘miracle on the Mississippi’
New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno said all passengers and crew have been accounted for in what she called “truly a miracle on the Mississippi.”
She added the ship narrowly missed striking a bridge carrying around 160,000 vehicles daily.
Thirty-two people are now being treated at a local hospital. Those include two New Orleans Harbor Police officers who went into the water to rescue people after the cruise ship began sinking.
Witnesses in New Orleans described a scene of chaos as the liner listed on its side and took on water.
Devon Flanagan was at his job nearby at the Port of New Orleans when workers began rushing down the dock. He got out of his truck and noticed the American Heritage on its side and passengers in the water.
“It was just chaos,” he said. “You had all types of ships, like other barges and other companies down there trying to help out, which also was a little convoluted because you had people still in the water.”
“Surreal — that’s what that was,” witness Jamie Holford told WDSU-TV. “Fifteen minutes from impact to where it rolled over.”
What we know so far
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A tanker collided with a river cruise liner, the American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage, carrying 129 passengers plus crew in New Orleans on Friday.
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The cruise liner was taking on water as it rapidly turned on its side, and videos showed people climbing on to the railing to avoid falling in the water.
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New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno’s communication team said multiple individuals have been rescued, and search-and-rescue operations remain ongoing. Helicopters were seen in the air along with ambulances waiting nearby.
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It is currently unclear if there are any fatalities and whether all passengers and crew are out of the water.
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It is also unclear exactly what caused the collision. A source told the Guardian that it was possible the tanker had lost power before striking the cruise liner. Maritime experts speculated the incident may have been caused by either steerage failure or engine failure.
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Officials said they would be holding a news conference, originally scheduled for 3pm CST, that has now been delayed. We are still waiting for it to begin.
Congressman Troy Carter, the representative for Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, said in a statement that he was devastated by news of the crash.
“I am monitoring the situation closely and praying for the swift rescue of survivors and for all emergency crews responding to the situation,” he wrote on social media.
A video circulating around social media shows a different angle during the moment the ship was falling on its side into the water. Passengers can be seen climbing onto the balconies’ railing to avoid sliding into the river as the ship turned horizontally. Several uniformed people can be seen running away from the scene, likely to gather equipment that would help rescue efforts.
Martin J Davies, a maritime expert at Tulane University, told local news outlet Fox 8 that he suspected the incident was caused by either steerage failure or engine failure.
“This ship is headed upriver and for it to have lost the ability to avoid the moored vessel, there must have been some fairly substantial failure, with the steering gear or the propulsion of the ship to prevent them from avoiding the vessel on shore,” Davies said.
“Given that the pressure of the water going down river is sufficiently strong that the upbound ship would have been going fairly slowly,” he said. “So that’s my first thought upon looking at the footage.”
Davies also noted how close the vessels appear to be to the bridge above, suggesting the ship was lucky to have avoided also hitting the bridge. He said: “This is obviously a really bad incident, but it could also have struck the bridge, which it didn’t.”
Photos show ongoing rescue efforts at the site of the crash
Julius Constantine Motal
Pictures are now coming in from the news wires. Emergency personnel and crews can be seen on the scene after a tanker crashed into a river cruise in New Orleans. The cruise liner can be seen lying on its side:
Officials to hold news conference at 3pm CST
Officials said they will be holding a news conference at 3pm CST, to begin in about ten minutes, providing further updates on the collision. We will bring you those latest updates as they come.
A statement from the US coast guard also announced that the river “is closed to all vessel traffic between mile markers 93 and 96,” encompassing the area where Friday’s crash occurred. That is so to assist responders as they “assess the situation and conduct response operations”, the coast guard’s statement said.
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority said in a statement on social media that ferry service across the Mississippi River has been temporarily suspended as a precaution following the collision. Travelers are encouraged to seek alternate routes.
Multiple people rescued from river, says New Orleans mayor
New Orleans mayor Helena Moreno’s communication team said multiple individuals have been rescued, and search-and-rescue operations remain ongoing, according to a local Fox News affiliate.
Photos are circulating on social media of people climbing out and onto the balconies of the ship that is now turned completely on its side.
Local media is reporting that multiple people have already been rescued, and helicopters were seen in the air along with ambulances waiting nearby. Several people can be seen in the river wearing life jackets.
Videos circulating across social media appear to show the moment the Atlantic Asphalt tanker crashes into the side of the American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage while the cruise ship is docked on the Mississippi River. The ship then falls to its side towards the open water and begins sinking rapidly.
Ramon Antonio Vargas
An emergency response source said that there were efforts underway to rescue people from the water. That source said it was possible the tanker had lost power before striking the American Heritage.
Images on social media showed the American Heritage on its side. It was docked on the Mississippi River outside the port of New Orleans’s administrative building when it was hit.
New Orleans cruise ship and tanker collide in Mississippi Rover
A tanker has collided with a river cruise liner carrying more than 130 people in New Orleans, authorities have said.
The governor of Louisiana has confirmed an incident in the Mississippi River. Jeff Landry said on X he was in contact with local officials and law enforcement.
The cruise liner was taking on water, local media reports said, and rescue efforts are under way.
The Port of New Orleans press secretary said the tanker collided with the American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage around 12:30 pm local time on Friday.
There were about 129 passengers onboard as well as crew, Port authorities told local media.
This is breaking news story. We’ll bring you the latest updates as we get them.
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