Inquiry underway at port after 67 cargo containers tumble off ship

Long Beach officials call it an 'accident' and temporarily suspend operations

- BY ANDREW J. CAMPA

ALLEN J. SCHABEN Los Angeles Times DOZENS of containers fell Tuesday. Port officials said no injuries were reported.

Nearly 70 shipping containers filled with clothes, furniture, shoes and electronics slipped off a vessel at the Port of Long Beach this week, leaving officials scrambling to determine what happened.

Port spokesperson Art Marroquin said the ship, Mississippi, was berthed at Terminal G just before 9 a.m. Tuesday when the containers mysteriously fell overboard into the water.

Marroquin added later in the day that the number of containers that fell into the water and on land was 67. He classified the content of the containers as "general cargo."