
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 1, 1994                   TAG: 9412010098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NAIROBI, KENYA                                 LENGTH: Short

2 DEAD IN ACHILLE LAURO FIRE

Two people were reported dead and one was missing Wednesday after flames roared through the Achille Lauro cruise ship off Somalia. Nearly 1,000 people aboard escaped in lifeboats as the listing ship burned.

The Achille Lauro, which gained notoriety in 1985 when Palestinian terrorists hijacked it and killed a wheelchair-bound American passenger, was in danger of sinking about 15 miles off shore in the Indian Ocean.

After fighting the blaze, the last 60 crew members abandoned the vessel and boarded merchant ships helping in the rescue.

``I just passed the Achille Lauro overhead and she is fully engulfed, almost, now, in flames. Flames have progressed far forward in the ship,'' said U.S. Navy pilot Lt. Paul Frost, who flew over the site in the afternoon.

Eight people were injured in the fire. The 10 Americans on board were reported safe.

The ship's owner, Genoa-based Starlauro, said the blaze apparently broke out in the passenger area, but the cause was unknown. The 23,478-ton ship was still burning and listing badly 130 miles south of the Horn of Africa when the last crew members left.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB