President Chirac met rescue workers at the dry dock

A gangway collapsed on Saturday in a shipyard in Saint Nazaire, spilling victims into the dry dock below.

Some 32 others, including children, were also hurt in the accident, when families of the ship workers were visiting the vessel.

French President Jacques Chirac is visiting the accident site.

Concrete

French prosecutor Pierre-Marie Bloch was one of the first to visit the scene on Sunday.

Click here for facts about the ship

Two groups of families were being shown around the liner when the accident happened, according to a spokesman for shipyard owners Alstom.

The BBC's Alan Little said the victims landed on the concrete floor of the dry dock after a fall of almost 20 metres.

A temporary morgue has been erected on the quayside and flowers have been laid by a bicycle shelter which is doubling as a temporary memorial.

The dead were all from the St Nazaire area. A few people survived the fall unharmed.

One, Jason Schmitt, told France-2 television: "We all tried to hang on to the gangway as well as we could as we fell. It was terrible."

An investigation is already under way, the Alstom spokesman said.

The 10m (30ft) walkway from the quayside to the ship had been constructed just the day before it broke. It was put in place by specialist French firm Endel.

"The poor people fell down direct from a height of 15 metres [50 feet] to the bottom of the dock, the Alstom spokesman said.

Temporary gangplank

Pamela Conover, president of Cunard, said: "Our thoughts and prayers are with their friends and relatives at this time of sorrow."

The gangplank connecting the ship to the dock was believed to have been constructed temporarily for the open day and would not have been used by passengers, a spokesman for the company said.

On Sunday shipyard workers, visibly shocked, hugged sobbing family members who were trying to identify remains of those who died.

Fabrice Ponchaux, 32, lost his mother and his aunt in the accident. His father was in the hospital.

"This ship should have been our national pride," he said.

Launch due

The ship, destined to be the flagship of British cruise giant Cunard, has been under construction at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in the western port of Saint Nazaire since 2002.

It completed sea trials a few days ago and is due to sail to her home port of Southampton around Christmas.

The BBC's Alan Little said: "Shipyard workers had taken their families to visit ... It should have been a day of celebration and of pride; instead, the tragedy will mar the launch of the largest and most luxurious passenger liner ever built."

Most expensive

France will want to know how the accident happened, where the mistakes were made, and who made them, he added.

The Queen Mary 2 is the largest and most expensive passenger ship ever built, 345 metres long and as tall as a 23-storey building.

The Queen is expected to officially name the �550m, 2,620-passenger vessel in a ceremony on 8 January, 2004.

Its maiden passenger voyage will be to Florida four days later. A Cunard spokeswoman in Miami said there were currently no plans to reschedule the trip.