SIX people were killed and seven injured yesterday when a walkway to a cross-Channel ferry collapsed and fell 10 metres at the English port of Ramsgate.
Two of those killed were Belgians. The nationalities of the other four killed in the 1 am accident were not immediately known. But police said the injured were a Japanese, four Americans, a Briton and an Austrian.
The covered walkway, which rose and fell with the tide, had only been fitted six months ago and officials from Britain's Health and Safety executive are trying to discover why it appeared to fall away from the Belgian-owned ferry Prins Filip as the last 15 passengers were trying to board for the trip to Ostend in Belgium.
Five people were killed instantly and one died later in hospital. A lifeboat was launched immediately in case others had fallen into the water and firemen said the dark conditions hindered the rescue.
The walkway was Swedish manufactured and of a type widely used around Europe for foot passengers joining vessels. Engineers from the company arrived in Britain last night to join the investigation.
The gangway appeared to have collapsed where it was supposed to join with the ship. Firemen who worked through the night with airbags and hydraulic equipment spoke of an horrific pile of bodies heaped together at the fallen end.