Three crew members of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship were killed by toxic sewer gas Sept. 2 as they repaired a waste pipe while the ship was docked in Los Angeles. No passengers were injured.
The gas first was identified as methane by officials but later was determined to be hydrogen sulfide. The Associated Press reported that crew members were replacing pipe connected to the Monarch of the Seas' sewage system. The broken line expelled an unknown amount of gas, and about 5 gallons of raw sewage into the starboard propeller shaft tunnel.