Eight people were feared dead after a container ship lost control in the night and smashed into a control tower in Italy’s busiest port in Genoa where rescue workers plucked a badly injured survivor from the ruins on Wednesday.
The 50-metre high glass-topped tower was destroyed when the ship ploughed into the dock. Some people were thrown into the cold water, while others were trapped in a lift that plunged into the sea, Italy’s fire brigade said.
A 50-year-old man was pulled alive from the rubble 12 hours after the accident and rushed to hospital while seven bodies were recovered – several by rescue divers from the water, the police said.
One person is still believed to be missing.
The Jolly Nero was following protocol by navigating towards the control tower and should have then turned into the open sea to its next port of call, Naples, but it instead hit the shore.
The crash revived painful memories in Italy of the Costa Concordia cruise ship tragedy last year in which 32 people were killed when the luxury liner crashed into an island in Tuscany.