Divers search for survivors and passengers tell of pandemonium and being abandoned by the crew after a luxury cruise liner was ripped open by submerged rocks off Italy's west coast.
Reporting from Rome divers scoured the water for survivors and telling passengers of the Titanic-style pandemonium and abandoned by crew members Saturday after a luxury liner was ripped open by rocks from the Italian coast.
At least three people were killed and 40 injured in accident near Tuscany, more than 4200 passengers and crew members forced the ship Costa Concordia to drop on Friday night. Dramatic photos taken Saturday of the giant liner dumped in the water, a long cut in his trunk, near the small island of Giglio.
Italian authorities said that two of the French tourists were killed and the other a Peruvian crew member and they drowned.
Late Saturday, nearly 24 hours after the capsizing rescuers have reason to celebrate: a South Korean couple on their honeymoon was found after firefighters find tents door to door heard screams. The couple was in a good condition to be brought to safety, officials said.
As darkness fell, Coast Guard authorities said they were calling from underwater search operations for about 40 people remained unaccounted for, with reference to low visibility.
Authorities said it is possible that the missing were trapped in the bottom of the boat, but it was likely that some of those rescued had not made contact with the authorities.
Authorities began an investigation of the cause of the disaster. News reports said the captain, Francesco Schettino, was arrested. Authorities claimed that the ship too close to the island to surf.
Rescue officials said that many people jumped into the water, while others are a chaotic rush to board lifeboats as the ship continued to list to starboard and take on water. Many are able to make it to the rocky coast of the island, where residents helped them and took them to nearby hotels and houses.
Stunned-looking Italian television passengers said they were interrupted during dinner by a loud roar, followed by a loss of electricity. Shortly afterward, the ship began to lean to the right and plates and silverware slides to the floor.
A loudspeaker announcement said that everything was under control and that the lights went out due to a problem with the power.
But passengers by Italian television interviewed said they quickly understand that the problem is not just electrical. Many complained that the initial emergency actions on the part of the crew were woefully inadequate and that the crew appeared to be unprepared to help passengers to safety.
A Downey family were among the survivors. Dean Ananias, 64, his wife, Georgia, 62, and their daughters Valerie and Cynthia, 31 and 23, were on a family cruise - an annual tradition - where the disaster, said Jonathan Garcia, the man of a third daughter Debbie, not on the cruise.
Garcia said the communication with the four were limited but that everyone is unharmed but emotionally shaken. The Ananias family members were among the last passengers off the ship to get, he said, crawling into a passage with only one life jacket strobe towards the light.
"They said it was an absolutely terrible experience," Garcia said.
On Saturday night, the huge vessel lay on its side of the rocky coast of the picturesque Giglio, his covers nearly perpendicular to the cold waters of the Mediterranean. A 90-foot tear was visible as a large rock in the fuselage submitted.
Rescue teams, including the Coast Guard and fire personnel continued to work on the side of the ship above water remained in search of survivors and a way to lower levels of the ship to get there. Coast Guard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro said scuba divers will search resumed at dawn Sunday.
Nicastro told Sky TG24 news channel that the ship on the rocks to rest, but the rising of the tide can change that, as search and rescue extremely hazardous.
Gianni Onorato, director general of the Genoa-based ship Costa Crociere, said the ship was his normal route from the port city of Civitavecchia, Savona, both on the Western coast of Italy, when pressure on the Bank of the rocks. Speaking to reporters on Giglio, he said the company will work with authorities to determine the cause of the wreck to determine.
The captain was the Italian television quoted as saying that the vessel had run into rocks that are not marked on nautical charts.
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