Three die as cargo ship slams into Italian port

A cargo ship slammed into the port in Genoa, Italy, today, toppling the control tower and killing at least three people, news reports said.

News agency LaPresse said half a dozen people remained unaccounted for, with some believed to be trapped in the control tower lift. Four people have been taken to hospital.

LaPresse said the ship was the Jolly Nero of the Ignazio Messina & C Italian shipping line.

According to its website, the Messina Line has a fleet of 14 cargo ships.

Images from the port shown on Italian television showed the control tower tilted to its side.

Genoa newspaper Il Secolo XIX said on its website that the crash occurred at around 11pm local time during a shift change, making the accounting of staff more difficult. It said at least three bodies had been recovered.

It said the ship was leaving port when the motors apparently jammed, rendering it uncontrollable.

The Italian-flagged Jolly Nero is listed at being 239 metres (784ft) long and 30 metres (98ft) wide.

A tearful company official, Stefano Messina, was quoted by ANSA news agency as saying nothing like this had happened before to the company, which was founded in 1921. “We are devastated,” he said.

The Genoa port, on Italy’s Ligurian coast, is Italy’s busiest in terms of overall handling of cargo, according to the port authority website.