Woman dies after cruise ship overboard alert near Channel Islands

A woman has died after she went overboard from a cruise ship near the Channel Islands, say rescue services.

An alert was sent out at about 02:00 BST for a search for the woman in her 20s north of Les Casquets rocks, west of Alderney.

The French search and rescue service said the casualty from the MSC Virtuosa was winched from the sea by a helicopter crew and was later pronounced dead by doctors.

An investigation is under way into the death by UK and French police, the service said.

A plane from Channel Islands Air Search was sent to the scene from Guernsey, along with lifeboat crews from Alderney and France and the French helicopter crew based near Cherbourg.

The Maltese-flagged cruise ship is 331m (1,086ft) long and 43m (141ft) wide, according to MarineTraffic.

It is currently berthed at Southampton docks, having arrived at about 08:00 from Cartagena Port in Spain.

The owners of the ship have been approached for comment.