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15 Canadians rescued from stranded Norway cruise ship, 1 injured

Click to play video: 'More video emerges of chaos on board stricken Norwegian cruise ship'
More video emerges of chaos on board stricken Norwegian cruise ship
WATCH: More video emerges of chaos on board stricken Norwegian cruise ship. – Mar 25, 2019

Fifteen Canadians were among the roughly 900 passengers and crew who were rescued from a cruise ship stranded in the Norwegian Sea, with one of the Canadians injured in the ordeal.

“Global Affairs Canada is closely monitoring the situation off the coast of Norway and is aware of 15 Canadian citizens that were on board at the time of the incident,” a spokesperson for Global Affairs told Global News.

“Canadian officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing consular assistance to a Canadian citizen who has been injured.”

READ MORE: ‘We were quite frightened’ Passengers describe dramatic rescue from Norway cruise ship

Global Affairs didn’t elaborate on the extent of the person’s injuries.

Information about the ages and identities of the Canadians was not immediately available.

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Rescue services airlifted 479 people from the Viking Sky before the weather subsided and the ship was eventually towed to the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast.

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WATCH: British Viking Sky passenger calls helicopter airlift ‘something special’

Click to play video: 'British Viking Sky passenger calls helicopter airlift ‘something special’'
British Viking Sky passenger calls helicopter airlift ‘something special’

A total of 1,373 people had started the voyage and about 900 people were still on board as the ship arrived at the port of Molde on Norway’s west coast.

The 915 passengers were mainly from the United States and Britain, the rescue services said.

WATCH: Dramatic video shows passengers, furniture sliding inside stranded cruise ship

Click to play video: 'Dramatic video shows passengers, furniture sliding inside stranded cruise ship'
Dramatic video shows passengers, furniture sliding inside stranded cruise ship

“It was very nearly a disaster. The ship drifted to within 100 metres of running aground before they were able to restart one of the engines,” police chief Hans Vik, who heads the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2.

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“If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster.”

A spokesperson for Viking Cruises said passengers would begin flying home Sunday evening.

— With files from Reuters

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