Search continues for survivors of cruise ship disaster
Rescue workers continued searching the capsized cruise ship off the Italian island
of Giglio Sunday night in the hope of finding more survivors. Fifteen passengers and
crew members remained unaccounted for Monday morning, more than 48 hours after the
huge vessel capsized, killing at least five and injuring more than 60 people.
The
captain of the “Concordia”, Francesco Schettino, was arrested on Saturday, accused
of manslaughter and of abandoning his ship before all 4,200 people aboard had been
evacuated. The company operating the cruise ship has said the captain may have “committed
serious errors of judgement” by sailing too close to land and not following the company’s
emergency procedures. He denies wrongdoing, saying that the rock responsible for tearing
a huge hole in the hull was not marked on his nautical charts or detectable on navigation
systems.
Meanwhile, the “Concordia” remains lying on its side about 300 meters
off the Tuscan island of Giglio. Environmental groups have expressed fears of an oil
spill from the vessel’s submerged fuel tanks, although salvage experts say these do
not appear to have been damaged.
Three people, a South Korean couple and a
member of the ship’s crew, were rescued yesterday and police divers also recovered
the bodies of two elderly men who were trapped in a flooded section of the ship when
it capsized.