Engineers Die During Routine Inspection

Two Royal Engineers were killed and a third injured in an accident during a routine inspection of a coal ship in Northern Ireland. They said there was no indication of terrorist involvement or an altercation between the English engineers and the crew of the Philippine-registered Diamond Bulker, which was carrying a cargo of coal from Colombia. "They were on board the vessel that was being subjected to the search and they met their end in the hold area," an army spokesman said. The two engineers, who were working with the Royal Navy, may have been overcome by fumes, hit by shifting cargo or fallen off a ladder during a check of the ship anchored in Lough Foyle in Londonderry late on Wednesday, he said. But he stressed it was too early to tell exactly what happened and that an investigation was underway. One of the dead men was from Plymouth and the other from Bristol. Their ages were given as 31 and 23 but their names were being withheld until relatives were notified. The injured man was in stable condition in hospital.