Passengers rescued from Antarctic ship

Nov 23 - More than 150 passengers and crew escaped unhurt after their cruise ship hit ice in the Antarctic and started sinking.

A Norwegian passenger boat in the area safely picked up all the occupants of the Explorer from the lifeboats they used to flee the ship when it ran into problems off King George Island in Antarctica at 5:24 a.m. British time, the Explorer's owners said.

The passengers and crew have been taken to Chile's Eduardo Frei base in the Antarctic from where they will later be flown to Punta Arenas in southern Chile.

Pavithra George reports