Ship capsizes in River Rhine

The cargo ship, which contained gravel, was knocked off balance and turned upside down in the water SRF

About 150 people have been evacuated from a passenger boat after a collision between ships on the River Rhine in Basel on Monday. Although nobody was injured, the cargo ship capsized.

Three ships were affected in total after the crash at the Kleinhüningen port on the River Rhine. The passenger ship, Olympia, was stabilised after the incident, its passengers taken off the ship onto dry land.

The cargo ship, Merlin, also came into contact with another passenger boat, Lafayette.

The cargo boat, which had been anchored in the harbor, was knocked off-balance.

The 30-metre-long ship lay upside down in the water and was initially stabilised by a towboat, later being secured with steel cables.

The affected part of the river was closed to water traffic for a number of hours.

Police at the scene say that diesel has leaked from the capsized boat, but can give no current indication of damage to the ships involved or to the river due to leaking diesel.