At least three people are dead and six injured after a container ship crashed into a control tower in northern Italy.
The control tower which was reportedly more than 50 metres high, was destroyed on impact.
According to Reuters, two of the people killed were harbour officials while the third was one ff the pilots.
Seven people were also reported missing after the accident, three of whom are believed to have been trapped in the lift of the control tower and may have fallen into the sea.
The accident happened as staff were changing shifts, meaning there were more people than normal in the tower.
"It is a terrible tragedy," the head of the Genoa Port Authority Luigi Merlo told local Genoa television station Primocanale.
"At the moment there is no explanation for the accident."
The accident happened as the ship, the Jolly Nero, was moving out of the port with the help of tugboats.
"A thing like this has never happened, we are devastated," said Stefano Messina, one of the directors of the family-owned local fleet operator Ignazio Messina and Co.
The captain was quoted as saying: "Two engines seem to have failed and we lost control of the ship.
The Jolly Nero is a 238-metre-long container ship with a gross tonnage of 40,594 tonnes.
Investigations into the accident are continuing.
Image: Francesco Pecoraro/AP