Tourists hurt by giant wave by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu

Norwegian officials reported on Thursday a number eighteen tourists, mostly British, being hurt by a huge wave while on a boat sightseeing trip. The giant wave, caused by a huge glacier braking into the sea, seriously injured 4 people, who were flown to a hospital in Tromsoe. The others were treated in a local hospital for minor injuries. "The glacier calved (split off) and a big wave washed over the boat," Elisabeth Bjoerge Loevold, acting governor of Svalbard, told Reuters. "The boat rocked back and forth and passengers fell on the deck." "We believe there was no ice from the glacier directly on to the deck but we don't have all the details," she said. Some Norwegian media reports had earlier said the boat was showered with ice from the glacier. Glaciers break apart normally as they slide downhill, but due to the greenhouse effect some of them shrink more quickly. Because of this boats are meant to stay clear of glaciers around Svalbard, in case chunks fall of and although there are no fixed rules about how far is safe, Loevold stated : "The captain and the expedition leader will be questioned about it by the police". The Alexey Maryshew, a small cruise vessel was carrying about 50 tourists and 20 russian crew members. Out of the 18 injured, 17 are believed to be British and 1 Russian, who is among the seriously hurt.

by Ioana Madalina Tantareanu for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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