Rescued Cruise Boat Tourists Taken to Chile

A group of tourists rescued from the cruise ship Explorer, which struck an iceberg off Antarctica on Friday, were flown yesterday to Punta Arenas in Chile after spending the night on King George island. Around half of the 100 tourists rescued were flown off the island. The others will follow overnight. Meanwhile, environmental groups stepped up calls for strict limits to be placed on numbers of tourist boat trips being made into Antarctic waters.

'The Antarctic is the world's last unspoiled wilderness,' said a WWF spokesman. 'It is also one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Yet every year we are sending in dozens of boats full of tourists. We are going to need to show much more care about sending in tourists after this.'