Massive Cruise Ship Hits Tourist Boat in Venice Canal

On Sunday morning at 8:30am, a cruise ship rammed into the side of the San Basilio terminal in Venice — hitting a smaller tourist boat and injuring four people.

CNN reported that the cruise ship — MSC Opera — said onlookers described the scene as something straight out of a disaster movie with the massive cruise ship heading straight into the docking area.

The smaller tourist boat, called the River Countess, was docked on the Giudecca canal, which is one of the busiest canals in Venice and a hub for tourists. Local authorities reported that four people aboard the River Countess suffered "light injuries" from the collision.

MSC Cruises said that the crash was caused by a technical issue that occurred while the ship was heading toward the terminal for mooring. "Investigations to understand the exact causes of the events are currently in progress," reads the company's statement. However, the ship has received authorization to be moored at the Marittima terminal as originally planned.

Italian port authorities also told CNN that while they're currently focusing on the incident at hand, they also plan on improving all safety procedures when it comes to docking ships in the Venetian canals to prevent incidents like this in the future.