Battleship evacuated after walkway collapses in high winds
A walkway to a famous battleship collapsed in high winds Thursday, leaving 30 people to be rescued by a local fire department.
Visitors on a battleship in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina are trapped after a walkway fell into the water on Feb. 27. (MPFD)
A fire department in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, performed an unusual rescue Thursday during high winds: the evacuation of a battleship.
Lauren Austin, assistant director of marketing at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, told The Post and Courier that high winds caused a mooring line to break, sending the walkway into the water.
Winds gusted to 37 mph on the nearby Ravenel Bridge on US-17 in the morning but were closer to 25 mph by the time of the collapse at 2:45 p.m. EST.
Visitors on a battleship in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina are rescued by Mt. Pleasant Fire Department on Feb. 27. (MPFD)
No one was on the walkway to the USS Laffey at the time, but 30 people were rescued from the ship with a firetruck ladder.
"Our ladder truck was used to bring the majority of the personnel down," the Mount Pleasant Fire Department said on Facebook. "One individual was removed using a rescue harness," they added.
The USS Laffey, a World War II-era Destroyer, is the most-decorated ship still available to tour.
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