29 People Still Missing Following Italian Cruise Ship Costa Concordia Running Aground

The search goes on by rescuers for missing survivors following the cruise ship Costa Concordia running aground off the Italian coast. Italian coastguard official stated that the number of people missing had been revised up to 29 – 25 passengers.  Amazing pics can be seen of the rescue attempts at the UK Daily Mail.  It looks like a cross between Titanic and the Poseiden Adventure. Say a prayer.

A stricken Italian cruise liner shifted on its rocky resting place on Monday as worsening weather disrupted an increasingly despairing hunt for survivors and authorities raised their estimate of the number missing to 29 people.

As the Costa Concordia’s owners blamed their captain for veering shorewards on Friday in a bravura “salute” to residents of a Tuscan island, the giant ship slid a little, threatening to plunge its whole gigantic carcass and 2,300 tonnes of fuel below the Mediterranean waters of the surrounding nature reserve.

The slippage forced rescuers to suspend for a few hours their efforts to find anyone still alive after three days in the capsized hull, resting on a jagged slope outside the picturesque harbor on the island of Giglio. Six bodies have been found. Most of the 4,200 passengers and crew survived, despite hours of chaos.

Fears grow as time goes by in the search for those still missing. The ship’s owners have blamed the captain for Friday’s crash, saying he changed course towards an island. According to accounts, the ship’s captain, Capt Schettino, has been accused of abandoning his vessel before all the passengers had been evacuated. So much for the captain going down with the ship. Capt Schettino was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.