OSLO: A Norwegian navy frigate and a Maltese oil tanker collided in a fjord in western Norway on Thursday, local authorities said, with seven people receiving minor injuries.
The KNM Helge Ingstad frigate, which was returning from NATO’s Trident Juncture exercises, was evacuated after the collision with the Sola TS tanker, Norway’s army said.
“It took on a lot of water and there is a real danger that it sinks where it is,” an official for the Sola rescue center said.
An image published by Norwegian broadcaster NRK showed that water had almost reached the level of the frigate’s helicopter platform.
A total of 137 people were on board the frigate while 23 were on the tanker, which was flying the Maltese flag, the official said.
The 62,000-ton tanker received only slight damage and is waiting to be towed to a nearby oil terminal, the rescue center official said.
“A small oil slick from the frigate has been detected but nothing large,” the official added.
The circumstances of the accident, which took place shortly after 4:00 am (0300 GMT) in the Hjeltefjord near Bergen, are not yet clear.
“The armed forces is now reviewing all the means available in the region to assist the KNM Helge Ingstad,” Lt. Col. Ivar Moen said.
Built in 2009, the KNM Helge Ingstad participated in chemical disarmament operations in Syria between December 2013 and May 2014.
Oil tanker and frigate collide off Norway, seven injured
Oil tanker and frigate collide off Norway, seven injured
- The KNM Helge Ingstad frigate was evacuated after the collision with the Sola TS tanker
- ‘It took on a lot of water and there is a real danger that it sinks where it is’
Protesters try to attack driver after truck speeds through anti-Iran demonstration in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
The police department confirmed its officers were on the scene but didn’t immediately say if anyone was arrested.
Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people had gathered Sunday afternoon in the Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. The LA police department eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still at the scene, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
