5 injured in Venice as cruise ship slams into tourist boat

A towering, out-of-control cruise ship rammed into a dock and a tourist river boat on a busy Venice canal on Sunday morning, injuring four tourists and sparking new calls for placing restrictions on cruise ships in famed but strained tourist city.

collision happened about 8:30 am (0630 GMT) on Giudecca Canal, a major thoroughfare that les to St. Mark's Square in rastern Italian city.

cruise ship, apparently unable to stop, blared its horn as it slammed into much smaller river boat and dock as dozens of people run away in panic.

Elisabetta Pasqualin was watering plants on her terrace when she heard warning sirens and stepped out to see crash.

"re was this huge ship in a diagonal position in Giudecca Canal, with a tugboat near which seemed like it couldn't do anything," she said.

She described ship "vancing slowly but inevitably towards dock." She said " bow of ship crashed hard into bank with its massive weight crushing a big piece of it. Sirens were wailing loudly; it was a very dramatic scene." 

When cruise ship rammed river boat, she said smaller vessel looked like it was "me of plastic or paper" rar than steel.

Medical authorities say four female tourists  an American, a New Zealander and two Australians between s of 67 and 72  were injured falling or trying to run away when cruise ship rammed into tourist boat, River Countess.

Venice is a tremendously popular site for both tourists and cruise ships, especially during summer tourist season.

cruise ship's owner, MSC Cruises, said ship, MSC Opera, was about to dock at a passenger terminal in Venice when it h a mechanical problem. 

Two tugboats guiding cruise ship into Venice tried to stop massive cruise ship, but y were unable to prevent it from ramming into river boat.

" two tugboats tried to stop giant and n a tow cable broke, cut by collision with river boat," Davide Calderan, president of a tugboat association in Venice, told Italian news ncy ANSA.

Calderan said cruise ship's engine was locked when captain called for help.

Following collision, calls for banning cruise ships in Venice, long a source of contention in over-extended tourist city, were renewed.

For many, crash served as a wake-up call. Opponents say cruise ships are out-of-scale for Venice, cause pollution, endanger lagoon's ecosystem and a danger.

"Obviously, we've seen today that our worst fears have come true," said Jane Da Mosto, an environmental scientist and executive director of We Are Here Venice. Her group backs efforts to ban cruise ships from Venice.

"re were 111 people on river cruise boat that big ship crashed into. y could have all died," she said. 

She said cruise ship could have plowed through concrete embankment and "hit houses, monuments and crowds of people." 

" port authority, government ministers, or institutions have often tried to ridicule resistance movement against cruise ships, saying that an accident like this could never occur," she ded. 

" government shouldn't be so weak in giving in to pressure of lobby groups, like cruise ship companies." 

collision came four days after a river cruise ship collided with a sightseeing boat carrying South Korean tourists in Hungary's capital, killing seven and leaving 21 ors missing.

t everyone in Venice is opposed to cruise ships. 

Pasqualin, woman who witnessed collision, counted herself among those prior to Sunday's crash.

"I've always been positive about ships, but I have to mit I've started to change my mind w, because this was a tragic, terrible and dramatic scene," she said.

Italian officials said collision underscored need to ban cruise ships from using busy Giudecca Canal, but y stopped short of calling for a ban on cruise ships.

"Today's accident in port of Venice proves that cruise ships shouldn't be allowed to pass down Giudecca anymore," said Danilo Toninelli, Italy's transport minister. 

"After many years of inertia, we are finally close to a solution to protect both lagoon and tourism." 

MSC Opera was built in 2004. It can carry over 2,675 passengers in 1,071 cabins. According to its sailing schedule, it left Venice on May 26 and traveled to Kotor, Montenegro, and Mykos, Santorini and Corfu in Greece before returning Sunday to Venice.