A passenger ferry carrying hundreds of people ran aground near Bainbridge Island

SEATTLE -- A passenger ferry carrying hundreds of people ran aground near Bainbridge Island west of Seattle on Saturday but there were no reports of injuries or contamination, authorities said.

The Walla Walla ran aground in Rich Passage around 4:30 p.m. as it was traveling from the city of Bremerton to Seattle, according to Washington State Ferries, a division of the state Department of Transportation.

“Initial indications are the vessel suffered a generator failure,” but investigators were still looking into what happened, the agency said.

Passenger Haley Socha told The Seattle Times that the ferry's lights went out about 20 minutes into the voyage and the engines stopped. The lights came back on after a minute and there was an alarm and an announcement saying the vessel had no propulsion and warning people to brace for impact.

People helped one another as they donned life vests, Socha said.