Amsterdam Ferry Hit by Freight Ship Capsizes

[Turborama]

Source: CBS/AP

A freight ship struck a passenger ferry in a canal near Amsterdam Friday, capsizing the smaller vessel and knocking several people into the water, national police say.

Later reports said it was unclear whether there were any passengers aboard the pedestrian ferry. A Dutch police spokeswoman told CBS News partner network Sky News that officials expect there was a least a skipper and possibly one crewmember on the ferry.

"At this moment emergency services are trying to pull victims out of the water," spokesman Frans Zuiderhoek said in a telephone call broadcast on Dutch state broadcaster NOS.

Zuiderhoek said that after the collision the ferry was left floating upside down. He said it is not certain how many people were on the ferry, which is used to carry pedestrians and often their bicycles across the heavily-used internal waterway. He said he could not confirm any injuries.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/22/world/main6980760.shtml

[Lars77]

1. Police confirms several children were on board the capsized ferry

[DFW]

2. I've been on those things

They're used all over the Netherlands. They're vital to the public, but they're tiny. I don't understand
how a freighter was allowed to get anywhere near one of them.

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[Ken Burch]

4. As a ferry boat steward on the Alaska Marine Highway System

My heart goes out to the families of the passengers AND the crew. I'm sure those crew did all they could to save the passengers and I hope all of them get out of this alive.

[paparush]

5. My friends are honeymooning in Amesterdam. nt

[L.Torsalo]

6. This did not actually occur in Amsterdam , but on the Rijn

Kanaal. This waterway is a heavy freight route. The freighter captains know about these cable ferries. This is clearly an accident as the ferries have been operating decades with no such incident. I hope the skipper and his mate are all right, though there are reports that the skipper may have been on board and is considered missing. I also hope there were not too many fietsers/bicyclists on board. Wij wensen jullie sterkte.

[Alcibiades]

7. It seems the only person missing is the crewmember

It would seem all the passengers were able to swim to safety.