Thirty passengers were rushed to safety when a cruise ship ran aground off the island where the film Cast Away was made. The movie stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, a businessman who was stranded on a Pacific island after a plane crash. It was shot at Monuriki Island in the South Pacific, where a real-life cruise ship got stuck in the reef on Sunday. Passengers and non-essential crew on the MV Fiji Princess, operated by Blue Lagoon Cruises, were taken to safety by a second vessel. No one was injured. The company told USA Today that a “severe squall,” or sudden increase in wind, caused the anchor to drift into nearby coral and get stuck. Experts are now working to salvage the 182-foot ship, but the weather has so far hampered efforts. “The immediate priority for all involved is to reduce and/or eliminate any environmental risk and to finalize a plan to recover the ship, noting that the current weather forecast is not in our favor,” Blue Lagoon Cruises said.
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