Five Dead As Lifeboat Plunges Into Sea In Canary Islands

Five people have been killed and three injured when a lifeboat fell into the sea off a British-registered cruise ship in the Canary Islands.

Officials said first responders were called to the ship, the Thomson Majesty, at 1205 GMT on Sunday after "a lifeboat with occupants had fallen overboard from a cruise ship docked at the pier of Santa Cruz port in La Palma".

The incident reportedly took place during a safety drill, when one of the winches lowering the lifeboat to the water is believed to have broken. The boat plummeted more than 60 feet to the water and landed upside down.

The nationality and sex of those who died was not known, a government statement said. Spanish media reported that three of the victims were from Indonesia, one was from the Phillippines, and one was from Ghana. All were believed to be crew.

The injured were all men, two aged 30 and another, a Greek national, aged 32.

"We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident," Thomson Cruises said in a statement.

Television images showed a small, white two-hulled lifeboat capsized beside the ship, operated by British travel group TUI Travel.

Spanish daily El Pais said that some 2,000 passengers were travelling on the ship, but that none had been involved in the incident. Many of the passengers had reportedly been on the shore touring the local Carnival celebrations when the incident occurred.

The Thomson Majesty, with five restaurants and two swimming pools, cruises to the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, according to Thomson's website.