Cruise liner on fire off SE England-coastguard

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) A cruise liner with about 750 passengers and crew aboard was on fire off the coast of southeast England early today, a British coastguard official said.

The ship's crew were fighting the fire, which broke out in the engine room, and were understood to have brought it under control, he said.

Search and rescue helicopters and ships were on the way and other vessels in the area were giving assistance, he said.

Sky TV said earlier that the liner was about 20 miles off Eastbourne, a seaside town on the southeast English coast.

The coastguard said the passengers were not abandoning ship, but would have been sent to their mustering stations as a precaution.

He said the liner was called the Calypso, but its ownership and the nationalities of the passengers were not immediately known.

REUTERS DKS HT1018