30 hurt when Toronto-bound cruise ship hits lock wall in St. Lawrence Seaway

MASSENA, N.Y. – Authorities say 30 people were injured when a cruise ship crashed into a wall in a lock on the St. Lawrence Seaway last night.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the Saint Laurent was headed from Montreal to Toronto when it hit a wall in the Eisenhower Lock in Massena, N.Y., near the Canadian border.

There were 274 passengers and crew aboard, and the coast guard says most of them are French nationals. It’s unclear if there were any Canadians on the ship.

Twenty-seven injured passengers and three injured crew members had to be removed from the ship with the help of fire officials late last night. Two people were seriously hurt, while the rest had minor injuries.

Petty officer second class Lauren Laughlin says the ship has a hole in its bow which was causing the vessel to take on water.

She says water was drained from the lock to prevent the ship from sinking, with crews hoping to move the vessel down the seaway later today to an area with a pier so the rest of the passengers can easily disembark.

The Saint Laurent is owned by International Shipping Partners.

The crash remains under investigation.