(ANSA via AFP): Rescuers speak to a man and a woman but have not yet reached them as they are stranded two decks below.
January 14, 2012 • 21h49 to 22h21 • updated
Rescue boat lights shipwreck off the coast of Italy: in Tuscany seek continuing. Photo: AP
Rescue boat lights shipwreck off the coast of Italy: in Tuscany seek continuing
Photo: AP
A man and a woman were found alive on Sunday morning aboard the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which sank near the island of Giglio, on the coast of Tuscany, the Italian firefighters reported. They answered the call of the rescuers, but still could not be rescued, firefighters reported.
Meet the luxury cruise that sank in Italy
"We speak to them, but still could not reach them," said Luca Cari, a spokesman for the fire brigade on site. "We have 35 people trying to access the site." The two survivors are two decks below the rescuers in flooded part of the ship, said the spokesman.
The Italian authorities had previously said 40 people were still sought by rescue teams, who maintain the work until very late. It is believed that many are on solid ground, waiting for identification. The Costa Concordia took 4,231 people on board, of which three died and about 40 injured. There were 53 Brazilians on board, but no one was hurt.
Earlier, the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, was arrested by the Grosseto, town in the area of the accident, under the charge of manslaughter triple manifold, and abandon the sinking ship with many passengers on board. It is unclear what caused the Concordia hit the rocks when they skirted the island of Giglio, the main hypotheses range from incompetence of the commander and a technical failure.
Two survivors rescued from grounded cruise ship
By the CNN Wire Staff
January 15, 2012 -- Updated 0220 GMT (1020 HKT)
The Costa Concordia, owned by
Genoa-based Costa Cruises, ran aground on a sand bank off the island of
Giglio on Friday, January 13.
Cruise ship runs aground off Italy
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Two survivors are rescued from their cabin, news agency reports
- The captain is being investigated for abandoning ship and manslaughter
- An estimated 126 Americans were among the 3,200 passengers
- Scores of people are unaccounted for, but may be at hospitals and shelters
Porto Santo Stefano, Italy (CNN) -- Rescuers reached
two trapped survivors in the interior of a cruise ship more than 24
hours after it ran aground off a picturesque Italian island, killing
three people, injuring 20 and leaving dozens unaccounted for.
The man and woman on the Costa Concordia were located in a cabin and
taken ashore, Italy's ANSA news agency reported early Sunday. Video
showed them being taken to a waiting ambulance.
The captain of the ill-fated vessel, which turned over on its side
after the grounding, was arrested late Saturday and was being
investigated for abandoning ship and manslaughter, a local prosecutor
said.
With perhaps up to 50 people unaccounted for, divers suspended their
efforts at dark, with plans to resume the search in the azure waters off
the island of Giglio at dawn Sunday.
Accounts of the chaos from many of the 3,200 passengers were
reminiscent of a maritime disaster 100 years ago this April -- the loss
of the RMS Titanic.
"For me, the worst part of the whole ordeal" was when a lifeboat crew
member told those boarding that it was "women and children first," said
passenger Benji Smith of Boston.
Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, is taken into custody Saturday.
"All these families who were clinging to each other had to be separated," Smith told CNN.
Some passengers fell into the chilly waters during the rescue, ANSA reported.
Questions abounded: Why was the colossal ship so close to the shore?
How fast was it moving? How well did the crew respond? According to many
passengers, the evacuation was disorganized and no one seemed in
charge.
Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, was interviewed earlier
Saturday about what happened when the ship struck rocks in shallow water
off Italy's western coast Friday evening, said officer Emilio Del Santo
of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno. Local fishermen say the island
coast of Giglio is known for its rocky sea floor.
Schettino said "that rock was not indicated on the chart," according
to ANSA. "Me and the crew, we were the last to abandon ship," he said.
The ship was 2.5 miles off route when it struck the rocky sandbar.
"There are rocks, they are on the maps," said Capt. Cosimo Nicastro
of the Italian Coast Guard. "What we know is the ship went really close
to these rocks. ... We don't yet know why."
The ship began taking on water Friday evening and the crew kept going
because they believed the vessel could normally keep sailing, Nicastro
said. Realizing there was a significant safety problem, the commander
steered the Costa Concordia closer toward port.
Authorities also were looking at why the ship didn't hail a mayday during the accident.
"At the moment we can't exclude that the ship had some kind of
technical problem, and for this reason moved towards the coast in order
to save the passengers, the crew and the ship. But they didn't send a
mayday. The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures
were already ongoing," Del Santo said prior to the announcement of the
captain's arrest.
Giuseppe Orsina, a spokesman with the local civil protection agency,
said 43 to 51 people were missing, though authorities are reviewing
passenger lists to confirm the exact figure.
Captain of cruise ship arrested
Witnesses talk about cruise ship accident
3 killed after cruise ship runs aground
"These people could be still on the island of Giglio, in private houses or in hospitals," Orsina said.
Two French tourists and a crew member from Peru were killed, Port
authorities in Livorno said. One of the victims was a 65-year-old woman
who died of a heart attack, according to authorities.
Nautilus International, a maritime employees trade union, called the accident a "wake-up call" to regulators.
"Nautilus is concerned about the rapid recent increases in the size
of passenger ships -- with the average tonnage doubling over the past
decade," said Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson in a statement.
"Many ships are now effectively small towns at sea, and the sheer number
of people onboard raises serious questions about evacuation."
Gianni Onorato, president of Genoa-based Costa Cruises, expressed
"deep sorrow for this terrible tragedy," but said the cruise line was
unable to answer all the questions that authorities are now
investigating.
The vessel, plying the waters from Civitavecchia to Savona, Italy,
struck a submerged rock, Onorato said in a statement before the
announcement of the captain's arrest.
"Captain Schettino, who was on the bridge at the time, immediately
understood the severity of the situation and performed a maneuver
intended to protect both guests and crew, and initiated security
procedures to prepare for an eventual ship evacuation," he continued.
"Unfortunately, that operation was complicated by a sudden tilting of
the ship that made disembarkation difficult," Onorato said.
Rosalyn Rincon, a member of the cruise ship staff, said the captain told passengers there was an "electrical problem."
Adm. Ilarione Dell'Anna, head of coastal authorities for the port city of Livorno, said an investigation is under way.
Concordia, which was left lying on its side in shallow water
Saturday, was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members
when it ran aground.
"I'm not surprised that it (the ship) would wind up tipping like
this," said Neil Gallagher, professor of naval architecture at the Webb
Institute on Long Island, New York. "Something had to go wrong with
either the controls or the navigation to get it to this condition."
Chris B. McKesson, adjunct professor of naval architecture at the
School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at the University of
New Orleans, said, "from the size of the gash, she must have been
steaming at a pretty good pace."
Fear and panic aboard crippled ship
Panic spread as people scrambled to find lifeboats in the dark as the
ship quickly leaned to one side late Friday. Access to some lifeboats
was hampered by the ship's tilt into the water.
With the ship's staircases flooded, Smith and others made rope
ladders to climb from the outer fourth deck to the third. They were
eventually rescued more than three hours later by a lifeboat that had
returned from dropping passengers ashore.
Smith said he and his wife never heard from any of the officers or captain during the incident.
At least three lifeboats apparently malfunctioned due to technical or
crew error, Smith said. "The people manning these boats were just cooks
and shopkeepers," Smith said.
Cmdr. Buddy Reams, chief of the U.S. Coast Guard's Cruise Ship
National Center of Expertise, said, "when it comes to cruise ships, in
the event of emergency, cabin stewards or others would have safety
roles," he said.
The Coast Guard inspects foreign-flagged cruise ships in U.S. waters
twice a year, studying the competency of the crew during fire and
abandon-ship drills, Reams said.
Many passengers asked why they had not yet received an obligatory
safety briefing when disaster struck around dinner time, only hours into
their journey. The timing of the safety briefings and muster drills
depend on the length of the cruise, Reams told CNN.
Many of those rescued in the early hours were taken to small churches
and other buildings around the island for shelter. Some were still
wearing the pajamas and slippers they had on as the ship went down.
Vivian Shafer, a passenger from Maryland, told CNN there was no
initial announcement after the vessel began its tilt. Others reported
being unable to clearly hear instructions.
Once ashore, no one from the crew assisted them, Shafer said. Rather, it was up to islanders.
"There didn't seem to be anybody in charge," she said.
Costa Cruises, owned by parent company Carnival Corp., said it was
focusing on the final stages of the emergency operation and helping
passengers and crew return home.
"It is a tragedy that deeply affects our company. Our first thoughts
go to the victims and we would like to express our condolences and our
closeness to their families and friends," the line said on its website.
The Concordia, built in 2006, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome
with stops in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari
and Palermo.
Most of the passengers on board were Italian. CNN affiliate America
Noticias, in Peru, said a group of 32 Peruvians were also onboard.
Brazil's state-run Agencia Brasil said 53 Brazilians were on the cruise
ship. An estimated 126 Americans were also on board, according to the
U.S. State Department. There were no reports of injured Americans.
Another Costa ship was involved in a deadly 2010 accident when the
Costa Europa crashed into a pier in Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh during
stormy weather, killing three crew members.
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