MSC Passenger Recovering After Gangway Collapse

An 80-year-old man aboard the cruise ship MSC Fantasia had to be rescued after he fell into the sea when the gangway he was on collapsed from strong winds in Palma de Mallorca. An official statement from MSC Cruises said that, "The incident happened when the passenger was disembarking—high winds led to three pier-side mooring bitts becoming detached simultaneously, causing MSC Fantasia to move away from the dock and resulting in the disembarking guest to fall into the water. The passenger is now recovering a local hospital."

Local port authorities did confirm that MSC was not responsible for the incident.

Startling footage from bbc.com shows the gangway collapsing and the subsequent rescue as crew members jumped into the water to save the passenger. "I am extremely proud of all four of our crew members who did not hesitate to dive in to the sea to help our guest as soon as they saw what had happened," said CEO of MSC Cruises Pierfrancesco Vago. "Their immediate and selfless action demonstrates our ethic of working together as one big family at MSC Cruises and I would like to thank them for their quick-thinking and courageous response."

Click here to see the BBC video