Five dead on Canary Islands cruise ship

La PalFootage shot from the cruise ship showed the lifeboat in the water

Five crew members have died after a lifeboat they were in fell from a cruise ship docked in the port of Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands.

The accident happened on the Majesty, operated by UK-based Thomson Cruises, during a routine safety drill.

Those killed include three Indonesians, a Filipino and a Ghanaian. Three people were also hurt as the boat reportedly fell more than 20m into the sea.

The MS Thomson Majesty is believed to sail under a Maltese flag.

About 2,000 people were on board the cruise ship when the accident occurred around 12:00 GMT on Sunday, local media say.

Two of those injured are said to be Greek, and a third Filipino.

The UK Foreign Office said it was aware of the incident and was "urgently looking into it".

No passengers were involved, local reports say.

Thomson Cruises said in a statement that it was "aware of an incident involving the ship's crew on board Thomson Majesty, in La Palma, Canary Islands this afternoon".

"We are working closely with the ship owners and managers, Louis Cruises, to determine exactly what has happened and provide assistance to those affected," the statement added.

All of our thoughts and prays are with the crews family and loved ones, and the remaining crew who will be devastated by this accident. All Thomson's  Cruise ships should be safety checked before any sailings, and the ship owners Louis Cruise need to step up to the plate and compensate the family of the crew members, and pay for some needed repairs and up-dates.