Cargo ship slams into Italy port, kills 7

ROME: Rescue workers in diving gear found seven bodies yesterday in the wreckage after a cargo ship slammed into the dock at Genoa, toppling the busy Italian port’s control tower into the harbor.
Four people were hospitalized and two others remained unaccounted for, Luca Cari, spokesman for the fire rescue teams at the scene, said.
The crash occurred around 11 p.m. Tuesday during a shift change in the control tower, as the Jolly Nero cargo ship was leaving port accompanied by tugboats.
By yesterday morning, all that was left of the tower was its mangled exterior staircase, tilted on its side. The tower itself — which was located on the edge of a dock jutting out into the harbor — was either in the water or in a heap of rubble and steel on the dock.
Cari confirmed the seven dead, saying rescue crews recovered several of the bodies from an area near the tower’s submerged elevator. There were fears that those still missing might be trapped inside the elevator, Cari said.
There were no reports of missing ship crew.
“This event is unbelievable because we had the best weather navigation conditions,” said Luigi Merlo, president of the Genoa port authority. He declined to speculate on a cause, saying the ship had plenty of room to maneuver in the harbor and shouldn’t have ended up so close to the dock.