Costa Concordia: Massive evacuation underway after cruise ship starts sinking off Italian coast
- Costa Concordia developed electrical fault two hours after leaving port
- 4,200 passengers and crew, including several British holidaymakers, safely evacuated
- Terrified passengers: ‘We were having dinner when all of a sudden, the lights went out’
- One victim, 65, died from heart attack after system shock of cold water
- Three bodies recovered from water so far, Italian official says
By Nick Pisa and Beth Stebner
Last updated at 5:45 AM on 14th January 2012
At least eight people were killed and more than 4,000 passengers and crew were rescued last night after a packed cruise liner began sinking off the Italian coast after running aground.
Several British holidaymakers were on the Costa Concordia which had left port at 7pm for a seven-day Mediterranean Cruise – but within two hours of leaving port, it ground to a halt in the sea with a major electrical fault.
Coastguards were immediately dispatched to the scene near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.
Terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man life boats as the 850ft-long luxury floating palace, which costs up to £1,200 a night, began to list heavily to one side.
Gashed open: The hull of the massive Costa Concordia was gashed open as it ran aground, killing at least eight and injuring dozens more
Search and rescue: More than 4,000 passengers and crew were on board when the vessel began sinking off the Italian coast
Terrified: Passengers are seen in a rescue boat of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia near the island of Giglio wearing orange life vests
The identities of the dead have not yet been released. A report released by the Messaggero newspaper said at least 30 people sustained injuries, with several of them serious.
Among the dead was a man around age 65, who officials believe may not have been able to withstand the cold of the sea at night.
It is thought that the death toll may still rise.
The Italian coast guard said they have retrieved at least three bodies from the sea. Commander Francesco Paolilo told the Associated Press that helicopters are evacuating some 50 people still aboard the liner.
A coast guard official said the vessel ‘hit an obstacle’ – though it wasn’t clear if that obstacle might have been a rocky reef in the waters off Giglio – ‘ripping a gash 50 meters across’ on the left side of the ship, and started taking on water.
The cruise liner’s captain, Mr Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio’s small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier.
But after the ship started listing badly onto its right side, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, he said.
Listing: The cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen leaning at an angle after running aground
They confirmed that 3,200 passengers were on board at the time along with 1,000 crew members and all had been evacuated by lifeboat and taken to the island of Giglio where emergency accommodation had been prepared for them.
They added that ‘the position of the ship which is worsening is making more difficult the last part of the evacuation’.
By 1.20am local time, this had been virtually completed and officials said that the liner was listing at an angle of 20 degrees but it was not in danger of sinking.
Besides lifeboats, five other ships that were in the area were used in the operation to ensure that all passengers and crew were safely evacuated.
Coastguard officials confirmed that 3,200 passengers were onboard at the time along with 1,000 crew members and all had been evacuated by lifeboat and taken to the island of Giglio
Operation: Rescue boats of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia arrive in the harbour
The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, a popular vacation isle about 25 kilometers off Italy’s central west coast.
There were reports of people having jumped into the frigid water, but no injuries were reported.
Photographs from the scene on Italian TV news websites showed the Costa Concordia listing to one side close to the harbour wall at Giglio while other showed passengers wearing live vests huddled on the dockside.
According to the log, most of the passengers on board are Italian, as well as some French and German citizens.
The ship’s website describes the Costa Concordia as a ‘real floating temple of fun that will amaze you,’ and it has four swimming pools, five restaurants and 13 bars
The drama unfolded near the island of Giglio after the Costa Concordia, one of the biggest ships in the Costa cruise fleet with 1,500 cabins, had left the port of Civitavecchia and was sailing north to Savona, its first port of call.
Passenger and Italian journalist Luciano Castro told Italian media: ‘We were having dinner when all of a sudden the lights went out.
‘It seemed as if the ship struck something and then we heard a load bang and everything fell to the floor.
‘The captain immediately came on the tannoy and said that there had been an electrical fault but it seemed very strange as the ship almost immediately began to list to one side. The glasses just slid off the table.
‘We were then told to put on our lifevests and head to the life boats just to be safe but there was a real panic on board you could see it in the faces of the people especially those with young families.
‘Then a few minutes later there were seven whistles which meant everyone had to get in the lifeboats.’
Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said: ‘It was just like something out of the Titanic.
‘You could tell straight away that the ship had hit something and no way was it an electrical fault.’
Giglio’s mayor Sergio Ortelli said: ‘We are on full emergency alert and we are preparing to receive the life boats with the passengers onboard.’
A webcam on the website of Costa Cruises showed the position of the £450million six-year-old Concordia just off the coast near Giglio with a caption reading: ‘Data transmission is temporarily suspended.’
Another deadly Costa crash: In 2010, a Costa Europa cruise liner with the dock in Sharm el-Sheik resort, Egypt. Three crew members died
The website also adds that the Costa Concordia is a ‘real floating temple of fun that will amaze you,’ and it has four swimming pools, five restaurants and 13 bars.
Prices for winter cruises in the Mediterranean start at £390 but can top £1,200 for a top of the range suite with sea view.
This isn’t the first deadly incident Costa has seen. In 2010, a Costa ship crashed into a pier in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh during a storm, leaving three crew members dead.
