Cruise ship passengers among dead in Tunisia

MSC Cruises has confirmed that 12 of the tourists killed in the attack on Bardo National Museum in Tunisia were guests on board its cruise ship.

Two Colombian, three French, three Japanese, two Spanish, one British and one Belgian guest died in the terror attack in Tunis, while 13 more guests of various nationalities were injured, two of which are in serious conditions.

This news follows the confirmation that the remaining two missing guests from MSC Cruises had been found safely.

The two Spanish tourists, Cristina Rubio Benlloch and Juan Carlos Sanchez Oltra, a young couple travelling on board MSC Splendida, had spent the night in hiding at the Bardo National Museum. The woman, who is pregnant, was immediately taken in observation to the hospital, with both her and her child in good conditions.

Executive chairman of the cruise line Pierfrancesco Vago said, while in Tunis today to meet the injured and their families, that all are receiving the necessary assistance.

Vago also met with the Tunisian Minister of Tourism, Salma Elloumi Rekik, who confirmed that, in conjunction with yesterday’s tragic events, a total of 20 people died, seven of whom have yet to be identified.

In the wake of Wednesday’s terror attack in Tunis, MSC Cruises has made the decision to suspend all remaining Tunisian calls in the 2015 summer program, in the interest of guest and crew safety.

Itineraries affected by the change will impact four of MSC Cruises’ 12 ships as follows:

MSC Splendida will call at Valletta, Malta
MSC Fantasia will call at Palma de Mallorca, Mallorca
MSC Preziosa will call at Cagliari, Sardinia
MSC Divina will call at Valletta a day earlier, then head directly to Corfu, Greece

“Sadly, the murderous actions of the people behind this devastating attack will have far-reaching and profoundly damaging effects on democratic Tunisia and its faltering economy,” Vago added.

“Tunisia can little afford to be considered a no-go zone at this time, but regrettably that is how tourists will now see it.”

MSC Cruises remains in continuous contact with relevant government ministries and international bodies, and does not consider additional itinerary changes to be necessary at this time.

Vago added that Tunis has long been a key destination for MSC Cruises, and hopes it will be able to restore it to itineraries in due course.

In addition to MSC suspending its calls to Tunisia, Italian cruise company Costa Crociere has also suspended stopovers by its boats in Tunis until further notice.

Thirteen passengers who were on one of Costa’s boats in Tunis on Tuesday are unaccounted for following the attack, in which at least 20 foreign tourists and two Tunisians died.

According to reports from The Guardian and ABC News, five passengers from the Costa Fascinosa, that had been berthed in Tunis at the time of the attack, had also been killed.

The company said its ship, Costa Fascinosa, had left Tunis on Thursday without 13 passengers who had been on board when it berthed in the Tunisian capital.

Two executives and 12 other Costa employees are in Tunis attempting to track down the missing passengers.

Costa said the suspension of ships to Tunisia would affect three of its giant ships that were due to berth in Tunis in the coming months – the Costa Fortuna, Costa Favolosa and the Costa neoRiviera.

“The safety of our guests and crew is Costa Crociere’s priority and an essential requirement for providing peaceful and relaxing holidays,” the company said in a statement.

The cruise line said it was working on alternative ports of call for the affected cruises.

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Costa Crociere msc cruises terror attack tunis tunisia