SINGAPORE: Madam May Lau was jolted awake by loud, urgent knocking on her cabin door in the early hours of Friday (Feb 20) – and she knew immediately something was wrong.
“They were knocking so loudly, I thought there was no way this was a drill,” she told CNA.
“They told us to get up as soon as we could. I could smell the smoke in the air and I knew there was a problem. We didn’t even have time to take our things.”
A fire had broken out on deck nine of the World Legacy, a Liberia-registered cruise ship, as it was en route to Singapore.
The blaze was extinguished by Singapore Civil Defence Force marine firefighters. One Indonesian crew member died as a result of the incident, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said.
All 271 passengers have since been evacuated. Passengers who required medical attention were seen by paramedics on site, and four passengers were taken to hospital for further checks. No other injuries among the remaining crew members were reported.
Of the 388 crew members aboard, none were Singaporeans. Among the 271 passengers, 139 were Singaporeans.