Fire-stricken luxury cruise ship has reached port in Malaysia

A luxury cruise ship bound for Malaysia which caught fire in the sea of southern Philippines Friday has reached a Malaysian port with passengers and crewmen all accounted for and safe

The cruise ship was on her way to Sandakan, Malaysia after a stopover in Manila when the ship's engine room caught fire. The luxury cruise ship which features a casino and other luxury amenities was carrying 590 passengers and over 400 crewmen. Around 200 of the passengers were Americans with about 100 from Britain, 89 from Australia, 45 from Canada, 39 from Germany, 32 from Austria, 16 from Belgium, 14 from New Zealand with the rest representing about 25 other countries, according to Philippine Coast Guard. The ship was on a 17-day Southeast Asian tour and left Hong Kong last Monday with stopover in Manila on its way Sandakan, Malaysia. Other destinations include Indonesia and Singapore. Reuters reported some passengers of the cruise ship were upbeat as the ship reached a safe port in Malaysia Consular officials from different countries were also at the port to give assistance to the citizens of their respective countries. "This is our first trip on a cruise holiday and after what has happened you would think we would not want to go again but you are so wrong," said Neil Andrew Kirkpatrick who posted on the Azamara Facebook page on Sunday. "The only discomfort is the heat due to the air-conditioning not working but I can suffer that as I know the engineering department have been working 24/7 to try to get this up and running." The ship's senior physician, Oliver Gilles, said the seriously injured crew member had suffered "prolonged heat and smoke exposure." AP reports. The damage caused by fire on the engine room of the ship would mean the cancellation of the entire cruise destinations.