Terrifying moment cruise liner tilts '45 degrees' r in freak storm
Published 14 November 2024
This is the terrifying moment a freak storm caused a cruise liner to tilt '45 degrees' on its side and send furniture flying across the floor.
The Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Sea liner was at the start of its transatlantic journey to Miami on Thursday November 7 when it was hit by a squall, a sharp and sudden gust of sustained wind off the coast of Tenerife.
Shocking footage - taken from inside the ship's promenade - shared on social media shows the chaotic scene onboard the vessel as passengers and furniture alike are flung off their feet.
Guests can be seen attempting to maneuvers around the area as the ship continues to lean at an ever more precarious angle.
Furnishings and merchandise slid across the deck, with a digital display screen coming close to knocking one guest over. Another man can was seen clinging onto a table.
The terrifying incident lasted less than ten minutes and left only one guest in need of medical care.
This meant the 12-night cruise had to make an unplanned stop in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands, so the injured guests could leave but it's now back on course.
Dan So, 41, filmed the dramatic footage after leaving an on board pub quiz. He noticed the deck tipping to a '45-degree-angle and recalled hearing 'screaming and glasses smashing'.
He said: 'When I left the pub I could hear screaming sounds, glasses were falling around and the cruise had started tilting.
'You can see a whole advertisement sign hit a guy and he saves himself and grabs his girlfriend. He was in a state of shock.
'I wondered if this was a normal thing but the more I heard people screaming that's when I got scared and had to turn the video off.
'It wasn't the full tilt you see in the video, but around half way.
'Some people told me to come over to them so we held each other and the chairs around us.