One
of the most helpless and scary feelings in the world is to think you are
trapped with no way out.
That’s
what it must have been like when a Carnival Cruise Line ship caught fire.
The
funnel on the Carnival Freedom was ablaze on Saturday afternoon near the Bahamas. The
ship departed from Port Canaveral, Florida.
In a
statement from Carnival, the team said, “The ship’s fire response team was
quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the
heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames.
Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike and that is being
investigated but cannot yet be confirmed.”
Part
of the funnel collapsed and fell onto one of the decks.
Firefighters
were able to control the blaze in about two hours and there were no reported
major injuries. There were some changes to the itinerary, however, because of
the fire and weather. Two crew members did have to be treated for smoke
inhalation.
“I
thought they (fellow passengers) were giving me a hard time but I got up and
went out on the balcony and sure enough the flames and smoke was pouring out of
the tail,” passenger Heath Barnes said. “Definitely an exciting day.”
The
ship was able to continue its journey to the Bahamas. It is also expected to
embark on its next short cruise on Monday.
Unfortunately,
it’s not the first time that Carnival Freedom has caught on fire. A similar incident
happened almost two years ago.
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