Hot and tired passengers disembarking from a disabled cruise ship Thursday in the Seychelles said they had prepared to abandon ship when fire broke out in the engine room three days ago, AP reported. Life boats were even lowered, passengers said, but the more than 1,000 people wound up staying aboard the Costa Allegra, which then drifted in the Indian Ocean with no engine power, no air conditioning and no running water for showers or toilets. "The toilets were running over, there was no electricity. It was very hot," said American Eleanor Bradwell. Her husband Gordon Bradwell said he and his wife ate cold sandwiches for three days and moved their bedding onto the deck to escape the stifling heat after a fire left the Costa Allegra without power. "It could have been worse than it was," said 72-year-old Bradwell. "It could have been disastrous ... we're here, we're alive." Eleanor Bradwell said that the initial response to the alarm seemed to be disorganized but overall she and her husband felt the shipping line had handled the emergency well. The couple said they realized the alarm must be real when it went off on Monday because they had already done the drill. When the fire first broke out, passengers were directed to put on their life jackets and go to stations on the deck, they said. Life boats were lowered but no one got in after the fire was contained. Dozens of officials flocked to the port Thursday to help passengers ashore, a couple of whom applauded as the ship approached land. The Seychelles Red Cross set up tents to assist any passengers needing medical help and embassy and consular officials were at the port to receive their citizens. Tour operators lined up dozens of buses to take passengers to either the airport or a Seychelles resort. Disembarkation of the more than 1,000 people onboard was expected to take several hours. The Costa Allegra has been at sea with and without electricity since a fire broke out in the generator room on Monday, knocking out plumbing, showers, lights and air conditioning as the huge ship went adrift in tropical heat. The cause of the fire is unknown. A French fishing vessel towed the cruise ship to the Seychelles. -- SPA
