Three Dead As Italian Cruise Ship Runs Aground

Three Dead As Italian Cruise Ship Runs Aground

At least three people have died and rescuers were searching for other victims on Saturday after a cruise ship carrying 4,000 of passengers ran aground and keeled over.

A rescue operation involving lifeboats, ships and helicopters continue hours after the 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia   hit a sandbar near the island of Giglio on Friday evening.

Coastguard official Cmdr Francesco Paolillo said the cruise liner's captain responded by trying to steer the ship toward shallow waters near Giglio's small port to make the evacuation easier. As the ship began to list heavily to one side, coastguards were immediately dispatched to the scene while terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man lifeboats.

Some people reportedly jumped off the 290-metre-long ship into the cold waters in the scramble to escape.

The multi-storey luxury vessel settled on its side, partly submerged, just a few hundred meters (yards) from the shore. Authorities declined to speculate on the causes of the accident.

Many of the 3,200 passengers and 1,023 crew were taken to the mainland port of Porto Santo Stefano where they were given shelter in schools, churches and other public buildings.

The website of the ship's operator, Genoa-based Costa Crociere, had apparently collapsed under the volume of searches but the company set up a helpline to answer public enquiries. Costa said it would cooperate fully with authorities.

Posted by Sophia Andrews on Sunday January 15 2012, 4:26 AM EDT. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0