3 Dead, 70 Missing After Cruise Liner Runs Aground in Italy
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Date: 1/14/2012 8:38:45 AM
Sender: VOA
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The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side after running aground in the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. The luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull.
Italian officials say about 70 people are missing and three people are dead after a luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany overnight. That is fewer dead than first reported.
Authorities say more than 4,000 passengers and crew members were aboard the Costa Concordia when it ran into trouble near the Tuscan island of Giglio. Passengers were sitting down to dinner at the time of the incident, and were told the ship was having electrical problems.
One passenger told Italian media the situation on the ship was "like a scene from the Titanic."
Another vacationer said there was panic onboard as passengers scrambled to evacuate.
"Everyone was just screaming, ＇Out!＇ All the passengers were just running up and down," said one passenger.
Passengers say many people jumped into the icy waters to escape the badly listing ship that began taking on water through a gash in the hull.
"We jumped in the sea and we just swam, and luckily there was an Island near us," a passenger said.
As the sun came up Saturday, the ship lay on its side, halfway submerged in the water, only a few hundred meters from the Italian coast.
Rescuers using lifeboats and helicopters evacuated passengers and crew to the island of Giglio and to Porto Santo Stefano on the mainland.
There is no word yet on why the ship ran aground. When it hit the rocks, officials say, passengers were instructed to put on life jackets and to take to life rafts. Hiowever, those on board said the hull tilted so sharply and quickly that many lifeboats could not be lowered into the water.
The Costa Concordia is 290 meters long, with 13 decks. It had 13 bars, five restaurants, four swimming pools and 500 balconied staterooms.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters. |
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