Freighter Plows Into New Orleans Mall; 140 Injured

A freighter that lost power on the Mississippi River crashed into the landmark Riverwalk shopping mall Saturday, injuring at least 140 people as panicked holiday shoppers and mall workers trampled each other trying to flee.

“Everyone was pretty calm and mellow until they saw the boat actually crash. . . . All of the sudden we heard the [ship] crash into the Riverwalk. It was mass chaos. People were running over each other. I literally picked one little lady off the ground,” said Mike Dunnuck of Midland, Mich., who had arrived in the city just two hours earlier and was in the nearby Flamingo Casino riverboat when the crash occurred.

Early reports from the scene said six people had been killed, but the Coast Guard and Mayor Marc Morial said no deaths had been confirmed. As many as 140 people sought treatment at five area hospitals, officials there said, with the majority being treated for minor injuries and released.

The impact, which occurred about 2:30 p.m. CST, was caused by a 763-foot Liberian-registered ship carrying a full load of grain, Morial said.

The Coast Guard said the freighter, the Bright Field, was heading downriver when it lost power, which cut steering. The pilot sounded the vessel’s horn about three minutes before it sliced bow-first into the part of the 180,000-square-foot, metal-and-glass mall that extends over the river.

“All witnesses confirmed that they heard the warning,” said Ron Brinson, executive director of Port of New Orleans.

People in the mall, which has 200 shops and eateries, and gamblers on the casino riverboat watched helplessly as the freighter missed the gambling ship and two cruise vessels, the New Hampshire and the Enchanted Isle, carrying a combined 1,700 passengers.

There were reports that the pilot attempted to aim the ship between the floating casino and the cruise ships as it moved under a bridge near downtown, but a Coast Guard spokesman said that once the freighter lost power, the Bright Field was “really at the mercy of the river.”

It then struck the mall’s food court area, which collapsed, falling 160 feet. Brinson said that after it “ricocheted” off the structure, the freighter came to a stop parallel to the seawall with a 15-foot hole in its bow, 70 feet short of the Flamingo Casino, which was docked at the Hilton Riverside Hotel.

Ken Parris, a senior investigating officer with the Coast Guard, said early signs pointed to mechanical failure. He said a crew member was at the wheel, with the pilot nearby.

The Port of New Orleans, one of the nation’s busiest, was closed to vessel traffic as rescue workers combed the area and the river for survivors and victims. Chunks of mall stores, restaurants and bars littered the water and the ship.

Brinson said rescue workers would search overnight, but “we are very, very hopeful that when this is over, there won’t be any victims.”

Also damaged in the crash were the hotel, and the parking garage and exercise room of a luxury condominium building next door.

An investigation, including drug and alcohol testing of the crew, was underway, but city and port authorities said the freighter was properly crewed and they credited the pilot with alerting people on shore to the impending crash.

Riverwalk is on a treacherous bend of the Mississippi, and there have been concerns for years as development grew that the area was vulnerable to just such an accident. Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected in New Orleans today, according to safety board spokesman Pat Cariseo in Washington.

Brinson said port police and Flamingo Casino security personnel were able to evacuate about 1,000 people from buildings in the area before the freighter hit the three-tiered mall. The mall and the condo complex will remain vacant at least through today, officials said.

Most of the injured were taken to Charity Hospital, a few blocks away, said Councilwoman Peggy Wilson, who visited the emergency room.

She said most of the injuries occurred as people were trampled in the panic, while others reported shortness of breath and chest pains.

Federal, state and local authorities conducted a search-and-rescue operation into the night. Rescue workers searched rubble with heat-sensing equipment.

“The emphasis at this time is to search the disaster area to establish if any people remain in the rubble,” Morial said.

City Councilman Oliver Thomas said Riverwalk was devastated. “It’s almost like a pancake, about a football field long. Right where there was a wharf there is water now.”

What remained standing appeared ready to collapse, and shoppers and mall workers running from the area reported smelling gas. A small fire broke out in the shattered mall shortly after the crash but was quickly extinguished, a Fire Department spokeswoman said.

“The ground started shaking like an earthquake and everyone started running out,” said Wood Thomas, who was in the mall. “It was just panic.”

Despite the damage, the vessel was not taking on water and its position after the crash might be helping hold up the riverfront wall, officials said. There was no dollar estimate of the damage.

The Coast Guard said the Bright Field is operated by COSCO Shipping Co. of Hong Kong, the world’s No. 4 shipping company. The name is short for China Ocean Shipping.

Times wire services contributed to this story.