Murder arrest after man's death on cruise ship

Police have opened a murder inquiry after a 60-year-old man died on a cruise ship.

The death reportedly followed an altercation on MSC Virtuosa in British waters at 20:30 BST on Saturday, detectives said.

The ship had left Southampton at 18:00 that evening on a two-night excursion to Bruges, Belgium.

A 57-year-old man from Exeter has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody.

Det Ch Insp Matt Gillooly, from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, said: "We want to reassure you that this appears to be an isolated incident on board, and we want to thank the crew for their cooperation and assistance with our inquiries."

The detective appealed for information from crew and passengers.

The ship returned from Bruges at 06:00 on Monday and remains in Southampton.

In a statement, MSC Cruises said: "Following an incident on board our ship, the relevant authorities were contacted and we are cooperating fully with their investigations.

"We are providing full support to those impacted."

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