A cruise ship carrying some 1,000 people - mostly US and European tourists - caught fire at sea off the southern Philippines, injuring at least five crew members, officials said Saturday. The "Azamara Quest" was on a 17-day cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore and was about 140 kilometres south of the Philippines' Tubbataha Reef when the fire broke out in the engine room late Friday. The fire was quickly extinguished, but five crew members were injured, said Lieutenant Commander Algier Ricafrente, a spokesman for the Philippine coastguard. The vessel was temporarily adrift while engineers repaired its propulsion mechanism, its operator was quoted as saying by DPA.
