Two die in fire on Norwegian cruise ship

A fire aboard a Norwegian cruise ship killed two crew members on Thursday. Several other people were wounded and 200 passengers were evacuated from the ship, the Nordlys.

According to the BBC, 12 people were wounded in the blaze, two seriously. The ship was close to the port of Aalesund in western Norway when a fire broke out in the engine room. The Nordlys was en route from Bergen to the Arctic circle.

The Associated Press reports that in addition to the two crew members killed, nine people were injured in the fire, all of them also crew members. Over 100 passengers were evacuated into lifeboats after the fire started, and the rest of the passengers and crew left the ship after it docked at Aalesund. Officials then sealed off parts of the town as the smoke from the ship spread.

"Our suspicion is that there was an explosion in the machine room," Acting Police Chief Yngve Skovly of the Sunnmoere Police District told reporters, according to the AP.

Passengers described the evacuation as orderly.

"We were sent up on deck and given our lifevests," Danielle Passebois-Paya told the Norwegian daily Aftenposten. "It took only a few minutes after the alarm and we were in the lifeboats."

"It was a well-organized evacuation," she added. "The crew did a really good job. Everything was calm and went smoothly. There was no panic."

Six hours after the fire began, firefighters had the flames under control. But the AP reports that the ship was taking on water and was listing 10 degrees.

"Our main challenge now is the stability of the ship," Geir Thorsen, head of Aalesund's fire brigade, told the AP.