St. Nazaire, France ? A gangway on the world’s largest cruise ship, the Queen Mary 2, collapsed Saturday, killing 13 people and injuring 32. Most were workers and their families on a tour of the nearly completed ship.

Dozens of people were on the ramp at the time of the accident, which sent them plunging 50 feet to the ground and transformed the luxury liner into a horrifying scene of bodies entangled in wreckage.

There was no immediate explanation of the cause of the collapse. An investigation was under way.

The 21-story-tall ocean liner was dry-docked at an Atlantic coastal shipyard for finishing touches before its maiden voyage, scheduled for January. Britain’s Cunard Lines, which operates the vessel and is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., said the voyage from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., likely would go ahead as planned.

“To the best of our knowledge, the ship will sail Jan. 12, as scheduled,” said Julie Davis, a spokeswoman in Miami for Cunard.

Cunard Lines issued a statement offering “thoughts and prayers” for the victims and their families. It made no comment on the accident itself.

French President Jacques Chirac is to visit the shipyard today.

Workers and their families had been invited to visit the vessel over the weekend, and the gangway was installed Friday especially for their visit.

As they crowded onto the gangway, the structure collapsed, pulling down scaffolding holding it up at one end.

Rescue workers gather at the Queen Mary 2 after a crowded, newly installed gangway leading from the dock to the ship collapsed Saturday in St. Nazaire, western France, killing 13 people and injuring 32.

“The passage gave way, and we fell about 50 feet,” said Jason Schmitt, a worker who escaped without injury. “I fell with a minimum of 30 people.”

Thirteen people were killed, according to the Operational Fire and Rescue Center. Of the 32 people injured, 10 were hospitalized in serious condition. No children were injured, rescue workers said, retracting an earlier statement of one injured child.