Sister of Concordia hero in new ship drama

The sister of a Walsall teenager caught up in the Costa Concordia disaster is aboard the Costa Allegra that was cast adrift more than 200 miles from the Seychelles.

Dancer James Thomas, aged 19, became a hero for helping people escape sister ship the Concordia when it capsized off the Italian coast in January, killing 32.

And now, in a coincidence, his sister Beki , 23, also a dancer for the cruise company, is one of the more than 1,000 people on the Allegra, which was floating near Alphonse Island after a fire in the electric generator room of the vessel caused a power outage yesterday afternoon.

A French fishing vessel is now towing the liner to nearby island Desroches to allow the passengers and crew to disembark and transfer to the Seychelles. Somali pirates are active in the region but have not been seen near the ship.

The pair's parents, Jayne and Mark, both 48, of Whitethorn Crescent, Streetly, said they were shocked and "couldn't believe it" when they were told of the second nightmare to hit their family.

Jayne, a merchandiser, said: "I can't believe this has happened again. We are just trying to hold it together and be sensible about it, there is not point going into a blind panic.

"I just want to speak to her, even though the ship is all right, I need to speak to her to hear how she is coping. We know it will be very choppy on the ship because it was literally floating." She added: "I can't be angry, no-one has purposely done this, the liner was in dry dock before it set sail so it was in good maintenance."

Beki is in regular contact with her parents by email as she found it too expensive to have a mobile, and emailed Jayne yesterday morning.

Mark, a contracts manager for a construction company, said: "We haven't actually seen her since James's experience but she was just happy he was safe." The couple, who are also parents to Adam, 25, an events manager, and Dan, 14, who attends Streetly School, said James "went into shock" when he heard about Beki.

Jayne said: "He found it all too much, to have all this again. He had a job offer from another cruise company but he turned it down because he just can't cope with it at the moment."