More than 30 British passengers are stranded on a cruise ship operated by the company involved in the Costa Concordia tragedy after a fire broke out on board.
The Costa Allegra was carrying 636 passengers and 413 crew members when it lost power after the blaze in an electric generator room at about 10.30am. The ship has been left without any electricity, the BBC reports.
The fire has been extinguished and although there were more than 1,000 people on board, no one is reported injured. However the Italian coastguard has said that the ship's engines have been damaged and with no means of propelling itself, the Costa Allegra is drifting in the Indian Ocean at the mercy of the current whilst waiting for tugs to arrive to tow it to a port.
Among the holidaymakers on board were 31 Britons and one Irish person although the majority were Italian, French, Austrian and Swiss.
All passengers and crew members not engaged in the running of the ship have been sent to muster points "as a general precaution", the cruise company said.
At the moment, the Costa Allegra is around 20 miles from Alphonse Island. The ship, which is 20 years old, was due to reach the port of Victoria in the Seychelles on Tuesday.
However now the cruise-liner is to be approached by "tugs and other naval and aerial units" after the Costa Allegra sent out a distress signal.
The Costa Concordia, another ship that belonged to Costa Cruises, killed 25 people when it ran aground off the island of Giglio, Italy on 13 January. Seven people are still missing.