5 Dead In Lifeboat Drill On Canary Islands After Thomson Majesty Lifeboat Overturns

Five people are dead and three more were injured after a lifeboat drill went horribly wrong.

According to the Daily Mail, a lifeboat fell off the Thomson Majesty when it was docked at La Palma port in the Canary Islands on Sunday. Eight crew members were checking on the boat when the ropes holding it on board snapped, causing it to plummet into the water. The boat flipped over upon entry into the water, trapping the workers underneath.

"We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected by the incident," said Thomson Cruises in a statement.

The Associated Press reports that three of the dead men are from Indonesia, while another was Filipino and the fifth from Ghana.

The three other crew members, who were all seriously injured, were taken to a local hospital. Two of them are from Greece, while the third is from Indonesia, per the Telegraph.

The Thomson Majesty was in the middle of a six-hour stopover when the deadly lifeboat drill occurred. The ship, which features 17 spa rooms, two pools and five restaurants, was on its way to Madeira.

Over 1,400 passengers were reportedly onboard the British ship, though none were involved in the accident.

The Daily Mail notes that the lifeboat drill in question became mandatory for cruise ships after the Costa Concordia disaster last year. Per CNN, the luxury cruise ship crashed off the coast of Italy in January of 2012, killing 32 people.

However, a spokesman for Nautilus International told UPI that these kinds of drills are often unsafe.

"We've had this happen so often and the industry has moved lamentably slowly to deal with the problem," Andrew Linington said. "There's been research which suggests that more people are dying in lifeboat drills than are being saved by lifeboats. It's that serious.

"The death toll has been such that we advise our members: If you're doing a drill, the drill is about raising and lowering the lifeboats. It shouldn't be about people actually getting into them. We advise them to do it without people in the lifeboats."

The head of Britain's Rail, Maritime and Transport Union also called for increased safety measures.

"Once again the spotlight is on the issue of safety in the UK shipping and cruise industry and RMT awaits the outcome of the investigation and recommendations that can prevent any repetition of today's shocking events," Bob Crow said in a statement, per Reuters.

This is not the first tragedy to occur on the Thomson Majesty. In March of 2010, the ship, then called the Louis Majesty, hit a giant wave in the Mediterranean Sea, killing two passengers.