At least some of the British passengers rescued from a cruise ship which sank in the Antarctic have arrived in Chile and are preparing to return home.
The first flight from King George Island in the Antarctic Ocean has landed in Punta Arenas, Chile, with 75 of the ship's passengers and two staff members onboard.
The eleven remaining passengers and 66 staff from the M/S Explorer have spent a second night on the remote island after bad weather hampered efforts to fly them out, the ship's owners said.
They remain in Chilean and Uruguayan military barracks and will be flown to Punta Arenas if the weather improves.
A spokesman said all the passengers were safe and in good spirits but one had a sore foot and was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
He said it was not known if all the 24 Britons and four Irish holidaymakers were among the group on the first flight.
Representatives from the consular offices of Britain, Australia, Canada and the US are in Punta Arenas to assist and flights home from Chile are being arranged, the spokesman said.
From Chile passengers will take connecting flights to major South American airports before being flown home or to their next destination.
John Warner, from travel firm GAP, confirmed that the ship, which was punctured in a collision with an iceberg, sank around 75 miles north of the Antarctic Peninsula.
