Tourist ship strikes highway bridge in Germany; 25 hurt

In this Dec, 26, 2017 photo, rescuers carry an injured passenger off a damaged tourist ship in Duisburg, Germany. (AP)

A tourist ship hit a highway bridge on the Rhine river Tuesday in western Germany, injuring 25 people, authorities said.

The Swiss Crystal, which had 129 people on board, rammed into a pillar of the bridge near Duisburg on Tuesday evening. The water level was high at the time and the pillar is usually on land, news agency dpa reported.

The ship was heading downstream on the last leg of a Rhine tour starting and ending in the Dutch city of Arnhem. It set off on Dec. 22.

A tourist ship, left, is tied up at another ship in Duisburg, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017. (AP)

Another ship took the 103 uninjured passengers, most of them Dutch, and 26 crew members to Duisburg. Some passengers also stayed in nearby hotels or were taken home, fire officials said.

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A spokeswoman for Scylla, the Swiss ship owners, said Wednesday morning that she did not have any information as to how the accident occurred or what route the boat was taking.

Police said four people were released from hospitals on Wednesday morning.

The bridge was closed for several hours as a precaution, but structural engineers cleared it to reopen after carrying out checks on Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.