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26. 05. 12. - 11:00

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26. 05. 12. - 11:00

Tunnel Vision

Kathryn Quinn

A dozy Chinese captain is in hot water after taking this luxury cruise liner out for its maiden voyage – and chopping the tunnels off when it went under a bridge that was too low.

Captain Guo Lai, 48, said that the information chart which it was navigating from indicated the bridge at Wenzhou city, in east China’s Zhejiang province was higher but the dozy captain forgot to take into account tidal and other factors and the fact that the ship had no passengers or cargo so was sitting very high in the water.

People travelling on the bridge had gathered to watch the ship said they had shouted and waved towards staff on the ship – but that the people on the bridge and only waved back thinking they were enthusiastically greeting them.

Eyewitness Ming Su said: "It just carried on as if that was not can be a problem and then hit the bridge with an enormous crash. It just cheered the two chimneys of and make the whole bridge shaped – and the ship as well.

"I can't imagine that it hasn't done a fair amount of damage apart from the fact that the two chimneys were lopped off."

Architects are currently checking damage to the bridge which has been closed since the collision.

The creators of the 158 meters long, 30 meters wide and 7 stories high ship which can carry 1000 passengers say that it was not severely damaged by the collision, but had to return to the shipyard for repairs.

Tragic Ski Girl Dies
A 10-year-old British schoolgirl has died after skiing into a tree at high speed during a family holiday tragedy in the Austrian Alps.

Peak Performance
Police chiefs in Hamburg, Germany, are celebrating after new crime figures showed there wasn't a single bank robbery in the city last year.

Chinese Fakeaway
Chinese property developers who've been thwarted in a bid to buy up an entire Austrian village have settled on the next best thing - an entire life-sized replica.

Austrian children help Romanian kids
A charity project run by the middle school in Hippach has been recognised with an award for its social work by officials in Tyrol.

Mother kills disabled daughter because she couldnt take care of her any longer
A Romanian woman killed her 8 year-old disabled daughter on Wednesday (yesterday)because she couldn't pay for her care, Libertatea newspaper reports.

Policeman accused of sex with the son of his girlfriend
A Policeman from Vulcan, Western Romania is currently being investigated for having sex with a minor, the son of his girlfriend, Cancan newspaper informs today (Thurs).

Serial killer survivor walks away alive after fall
An 85 year-old woman who survived the most cruel and notorious serial killer in Romania some 40 years ago, recently fell from the first floor of her apartment building and she walked away safe and sound, Cancan newspaper reports today (Thurs).

The son of Qatar Airlines BA beaten up in Romania
The son of the Board of Administration of Qatar Airlines Akbar Al Baker, was beaten up over the weekend at the launching party of a posh club in Mamaia, at the Romanian Black Sea shore, Cancan newspaper reports.

Majority starts president’s suspension procedures
A day after the Social Liberal Union (USL) legislators dismissed with a large majority of votes the two Speakers of the Parliament, the Union started today the procedures for the suspension and possible impeachment of President Traian Basescu. This is the second time when the Parliament asks for Basescu’s suspension.

Some 177 Roma repatriated by French authorities to Romania
Some 177 Romanian citizens of Roma origin were repatriated on Tuesday night from Lille, France, Romania TV news channel informs today (Weds).