Tourists airlifted from Greek cruise ship

Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from a Greek cruise ship that ran aground near the Aegean island of Santorini with 1,500 …

Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from a Greek cruise ship that ran aground near the Aegean island of Santorini with 1,500 passengers and crew on board.

A rescue operation took all passengers off the Greek-registered Sea Diamond, which was listing after its hull was holed, and brought them safely to shore, officials said.

"The evacuation of all passengers was completed and only the crew remains on the ship," a merchant marine ministry official said.

The 22,412-tonne ship ran aground close to the shore of the picturesque island, one of Greece's most popular tourist destinations.

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The first passengers abandoned the ship on its lifeboats. Once the ship was stable, held by a tug boat and anchored, other passengers were transferred to smaller vessels.

The Sea Diamondleft the port of Piraeus on Monday for a five-day island cruise and had been due to return tomorrow.

Local officials said a helicopter, military planes and fishing boats had rushed to the scene to help with the rescue.

Greece's Tourism Minister Fani Palli-Petralia said the ministry was talking to the island's hoteliers to find rooms for the passengers and that the government would pick up the bill.