A woman believed to have been on board a Hurtigruten vessel died on Thursday after reportedly falling off the ship as it was arriving at Ålesund Wednesday evening. Police reported they had no reason to believe there was any criminal activity involved as they continued to investigate how the incident occurred.
The woman, whose identity was not released, was found in the chilly waters about an hour after she reportedly went overboard from the vessel MS Finnmarken, which was sailing northbound on its normal route along the Norwegian coast. Search and rescue crews had mounted a major search in stormy weather that involved a helicopter, six vessels and divers in the water.
The search was challenging because of stormy weather and darkness, but emergency crews found the woman, got her out of the water and rushed her to the local hospital. She was described as being critically injured and was flown onwards to the larger and more specialized St Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, where her condition was described as “extremely serious.” She died Thursday afternoon.
The Hurtigruten ship was held at the pier while police carried out their investigation of the accident. A Hurtigruten spokeswoman said the shipping line was “following our normal procedures. Those who need a debriefing will get it. Beyond that, this is a police matter.”
newsinenglish.no staff
