Fire on cruise ship kills two crew and forces evacuation of 200 people

two crewmen died and more than 200 passengers were evacuated when fire broke out in the engine room of a cruise liner off the west coast of Norway yesterday.

Thick, black smoke billowed from the MS Nordyls as it approached dock at Aalesund, 230 miles northwest of Oslo. Smoke from the ship forced police to set up cordons in the town.

The fire broke out about 9am local time, and forced more than 100 passengers to take to the lifeboats. The remainder of the ship’s 207 passengers and its 55 crew were evacuated when it docked, though some crew remaied on board to try to stop the fire spreading.

“Our suspicion is that there was an explosion in the machine room,” a police spokesman said.

The local fire brigade said the blaze was “big and intense” but could not confirm reports the ship’s fire-extinguishing system did not work, though the electrical system was knocked out.