Apr 20, 2010
UK warship rescues travelers
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Bearing military duffel bags, suitcases and tales of travel chaos, soldiers in uniform and parents with children in tow boarded the HMS Albion, a 173-meter-long amphibious assault ship, in this port in northern Spain for the 40-hour voyage to Portsmouth, England. -- PHOTO: AFP
SANTANDER (Spain) - A HULKING gray Royal Navy warship rescued nearly 800 British soldiers and civilians stranded by the volcanic ash cloud and left on Tuesday to take them home. Bearing military duffel bags, suitcases and tales of travel chaos, soldiers in uniform and parents with children in tow boarded the HMS Albion, a 173-meter-long amphibious assault ship, in this port in northern Spain for the 40-hour voyage to Portsmouth, England.
Two other Royal Navy ships are also heading to the continent, including the HMS Ark Royal, as Britain struggles to repatriate its marooned travelers. Some waved from the deck of the HMS Albion as the vessel was tugged out to sea under cloudy skies. The 500-odd soldiers, finishing a 6-month tour of duty in the war in Afghanistan, came to Spain via Cyprus, where they had rested for two weeks.
'I have lost count of the number of planes and buses we took to arrive here,' said Angus Henderson, 40, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh, an infantry unit. He said he was in a hurry to get back to Britain for the funeral of a young colleague who was killed in Afghanistan.
One of the 290 civilians, Patricia Quirke of Manchester, said she and nine other families drove all night in taxis and a van from Spain's north-west corner to catch the Royal Navy ride home. The taxi rides cost 600 euros (S$1114) each. -- AP
UK warship rescues travelers
<!-- end left side bar -->
Bearing military duffel bags, suitcases and tales of travel chaos, soldiers in uniform and parents with children in tow boarded the HMS Albion, a 173-meter-long amphibious assault ship, in this port in northern Spain for the 40-hour voyage to Portsmouth, England. -- PHOTO: AFP
SANTANDER (Spain) - A HULKING gray Royal Navy warship rescued nearly 800 British soldiers and civilians stranded by the volcanic ash cloud and left on Tuesday to take them home. Bearing military duffel bags, suitcases and tales of travel chaos, soldiers in uniform and parents with children in tow boarded the HMS Albion, a 173-meter-long amphibious assault ship, in this port in northern Spain for the 40-hour voyage to Portsmouth, England.
Two other Royal Navy ships are also heading to the continent, including the HMS Ark Royal, as Britain struggles to repatriate its marooned travelers. Some waved from the deck of the HMS Albion as the vessel was tugged out to sea under cloudy skies. The 500-odd soldiers, finishing a 6-month tour of duty in the war in Afghanistan, came to Spain via Cyprus, where they had rested for two weeks.
'I have lost count of the number of planes and buses we took to arrive here,' said Angus Henderson, 40, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Welsh, an infantry unit. He said he was in a hurry to get back to Britain for the funeral of a young colleague who was killed in Afghanistan.
One of the 290 civilians, Patricia Quirke of Manchester, said she and nine other families drove all night in taxis and a van from Spain's north-west corner to catch the Royal Navy ride home. The taxi rides cost 600 euros (S$1114) each. -- AP
