Queen Mary 2 deaths blamed on technical problems

A public prosecutor said "technical problems" appeared to have caused the collapse of a gangway to the Queen Mary 2 cruiseliner in western France at the weekend which killed 15 people.

Saint-Nazaire prosecutor Pierre-Marie Block said the structure had been changed at the last minute at the request of the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard.

Two inquiries into Saturday's disaster are under way, including a criminal investigation into manslaughter and involuntary injury.

"At this stage in the inquiry, given the information I have at my disposal, we are leaning towards technical problems (as the cause)," Mr Block told a news conference in this grief-stricken western port.

"The gangway had been changed. The one that was in place on Saturday was put up the evening before at the request of the management who wanted a gangway 1.4 metres wide, whereas the first one was only a metre (three feet) wide," Block said.

Forty-eight people are thought to have been on the gangway to Cunard's new flagship cruiseliner - the world's largest - when the temporary structure suddenly gave way, throwing them 20 metres to the bottom of the dry dock.

Among the dead were workers who had helped build the liner, their friends and family members. Thirty-two other people were injured, some seriously.