Fire broke out aboard a Soviet passenger liner carrying French tourists on a cruise of the Mediterranean, but the blaze was put out by the crew and no passengers were injured, Tass reported Monday. The Shota Rustaveli was 25 miles off the island of Malta when a blaze broke out in the auxiliary engine room, the official news agency said. ``The blaze was put out by the crew. There are no casualties among the passengers,'' Tass said. It cited local news reports as saying the ship had docked at the Maltese port of Valletta, and that its passengers had been offered sightseeing trips around the island south of Sicily. The tourists were expected to continue their voyage on another Soviet ship, and the crew of the Shota Rustaveli was to make repairs and bring the ship home, Tass said. It was the second fire aboard a Soviet cruise ship in recent months. On May 18, a blaze broke out on the liner Priamurye while it was in the Japanese port of Osaka. Eleven Soviets were killed in the Priamurye fire, and 26 others hospitalized in critical condition, Tass reported. The ship was carrying 295 Soviets on a youth cruise around Japan.
Fire broke out aboard a Soviet passenger liner carrying French tourists on a cruise of the Mediterranean, but the crew put out the blaze and no passengers were injured, Tass reported Monday. The ship docked at the Maltese port of Valletta and the tourists were expected to continue their voyage on another Soviet ship. A fire in one of Russia's newest luxury liners has been extinguished after it was discovered that an electrical short circuit caused by faulty wiring had not yet reached the ship's engine room, according to Russian news agency On May 18, a blaze broke out on Priamurye while it was in the Japanese port of Osaka. Eleven Soviets were killed in that fire and 26 others were hospitalized in critical condition, Tass reported.