Eight passengers dead, 4,200 take to lifeboats as cruise ship hits rocks

//Eight passengers dead, 4,200 take to lifeboats as cruise ship hits rocks

concordia3s.jpgThis dramatic picture shows cruise ship Costa Concordia aground on rocks off the Italian island of Giglio after almost ramming the lighthouse at the end of the pier.
About 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew were evacuated by lifeboats, although local media reports said dozens of passengers jumped into the sea. Eight were reported dead, including a man in his 70s who suffered a heart attack in the water.
Several people were injured in the accident, two of them seriously, and the local mayor said he feared further casualties as it was proving difficult to rescue the last passengers. Helicopters with spotlights were being used to help rescuers. Coastguards said three bodies had been recovered from the water.
The ship, launched in 2006, had left Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, on Friday evening, heading north to Savona on a seven-night Mediterranean cruise. After only a couple of hours at sea, and with passengers sitting down to dinner, there was a loud bang and the lights went out.
As the ship began taking on water, the captain at first announced there was an electrical fault and appealed for calm. But within minutes, the emergency signal of seven blasts on the ship’s whistle was sounded, and passengers were ordered to don life vests and take to the lifeboats.
A statement from Costa Cruises said: “The evacuation was carried out promptly, but the location of the ship, which become more difficult, is complicating the last landing. At the moment it is not possible to define the causes of the problem occurred.”
concorpax.jpgThe mayor of the port of Giglio said residents were trying to find room to accommodate the rescued passengers (above), who included children and pregnant women. “We are trying to accommodate them anywhere we can, in schools, nurseries, hotels, anywhere that has a roof.”
A Grimaldi Lines ferry en route from Barcelona to Civitavecchia diverted to the scene to assist in the rescue operation which was completed by the early hours of the morning. The ship was listing at an angle of 20 degrees but officials said it was in no danger of sinking.
There are believed to be a number of Britons among the passengers, who were mostly from Italy, Germany and France.
On the ship’s website, a notice says data transmission from the webcam mounted on its navigation bridge “is temporarily suspended.” The last update was at 20:31:04 GMT – just after 9.30 pm local time.
cconcordia.jpg

By | 2017-06-15T15:59:56+00:00 14 January 2012|Cruise News|2 Comments

About the Author:

John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.

2 Comments

  1. Oman 14 January 2012 at 3:41 am - Reply

    what a frightening incident for the people on board. It looks so close to the port that its surprising the hazard wasn’t marked / dredged away. Lets hope that there are no more casualties

  2. Jose 15 January 2012 at 1:10 am - Reply

    Hi everybody
    This is completly pilot mistake, coz he is the responsible person to bring the ship in pier and take it out from the pier as the pic shows it happend in the pier
    On oct 11 2011′ i was on freedom of the seas own by rrcl, the ship went in the strom which was 105mph, can u believe the wind speed
    Aim still alive

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