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A RESCUE VESSEL is shortly due to reach a ship which has been stranded in the Antarctica since Christmas Eve.
The Russian passenger ship Akademik Shokalskiy has 74 people on board, a mixture of scientists, tourists and crew. The vessel is trapped in ice about 1500 nautical miles south of Australia.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), which is coordinating the rescue of the passenger ship, has sent the Aurora Australis, an icebreaker, to the stranded ship in a bid to free it from its current location. The vessel is expected to arrive around 1pm GMT.
A Chinese icebreaker which was initially sent to help encountered heavy ice and was unable to reach the ship. However the AMSA said the vessel remains in the vicinity of the Akademik Shokalskiy to help if necessary.
Passengers watch as a helicopter flies over the stranded ship to assess whether it will be able to land. (Screengrab)
The Chinese ship is equipped with a helicopter which may be used to evacuate passengers if the Aurora Australis is unable to break through the ice to reach the Akademik Shokalskiy.
The Russian boat is well-stocked with food and is in no immediate danger.
“Rescue Coordination Centre Australia is in regular contact with the MV Akademik Shokalskiy and the 74 people on board are reported to be safe and well,” the AMSA said in a statement.
The Akademik Shokalskiy trapped in ice. (AP Photo/Australasian Antarctic Expedition/Footloose Fotography/Andrew Peacock)
Some of the people on board the ship have reported that conditions are improving, with ice in the area appearing to ease somewhat. The ice surrounding the ship is estimated to be between three and four metres thick.
Passengers on the ship have been able to leave to ship to walk on the ice. Some have recorded video messages for family and friends anxious for news.
(Videos: Intrepid Science/YouTube)
Expedition
The search and rescue operation began on Christmas morning when a rescue coordination centre in the UK received a distress message via satellite from the Akademik Shokalskiy.
The ship is following the path of explorer Sir Douglas Mawson, one of the first people to lead an expedition to the Antarctic one hundred years ago. The passengers have been carrying out the same scientific experiments Mawson’s team conducted during their expedition between 1911 and 1914.
The passengers had been on board the ship for three weeks and had intended to return to New Zealand by early January.
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Lucky to be alive after getting a smack from a train. Very lucky.
I hope he us not too seriously hurt
In Japan the train company sues the family for damages if someone commits suicude by jumping under a train. It sounds like this guy was somewhere where he shouldn’t have been and as a result ruined the evening of thousands of people. It may be harsh but there should be consequences.
Fools own fault, trespassing
What was he doing trespassing on the line, very lucky he wasn’t killed!
Are there not two train tracks on this line? Close the one the victim was on but switch the traffic to the other track to allow passengers to travel on, I’d think?
Martain
The traveling public are not allowed to see a dead/injured person after been hit by a train.
Id imagine it wouldn’t be too safe for the emergency workers having a train passing by so close to them either.
By all means James but once the clear up operation has been done, why inconvenience or endanger everyone else from getting home or on to where they need to be?
It might sound facile but a bloke here once drove his car onto a train line to commit suicide and nearly succeeded in killing others in the resulting crash. Worth thinking about here is the traumatic impact on the train driver in seeing someone dilerbrately putting themselves in such harms way without any chance of avoidance?
Yeah, James, imagine if some commuter chose that moment to flush. Brown mist, not nice.
Even if they did that It’s still gonna slow down the line Martin
Lost his nerve at the last second? Hope he gets help if that’s the case.
Poor boy. I hope he gets the help he needs. Before people start moaning about the inconvenience, think how he must have been feeling. To think throwing yourself under a train can be the answer it would have to be a very black day indeed.
Sounds strange. Got hit but didn’t suffer any life threatening injuries. Surely could have been dealt with faster possibly ?
Presumably there still has to be a health & safety investigation for any workplace accident involving a member of the public, plus possibly a Gárda investigation. Facts have to be ascertained with a view to seeing if similar incidents could be prevented.
God help this young lad. To feel there is no way out but this is horrendous. I hope he gets the help he needs. Take care young man and remember
H -hold
O – on
P – pain
E – eases
HOPE xxxxxxx
Was on a train to Heuston this afternoon. We got delayed in Athy for about an hour due to the incident. It could have been worse I guess.
Exactly
All I will say is I’m glad he survived , it must be first ever incident where someone actually survives after that. I was stuck in delays but it wasn’t too bad especially knowing the reason why. I usually feel very bad for train drivers, if that boy would of died how would you live with yourself knowing you killed him, but all good hes alive !
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