Cruise Ship Costa Concordia Runs Aground off Italy, Three Killed & Dozens Missing … Modern Day Titanic

Tragedy off the coast of Italy …

Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Italy causing the ship to roll over onto its side killing at least three people and leaving dozens missing. At the time of the accident the ship was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground at about dinner time. The Coast Guard has stated that 50 to 70 people could be missing.

Italian authorities were questioning Saturday the captain of a cruise ship that ran aground, knocking the vessel on its side and killing at least three people, with dozens more missing, officials said.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, was being interviewed by investigators Porto Santo Stefano on what happened when the 4,200-passenger Costa Concordia, owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises, slammed into shallow water off Italy’s western coast, said officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno.

Authorities are looking at why the ship didn’t hail a mayday during the accident near the Italian island of Giglio on Friday night, officials said.

UPDATE I: Based on information provided by local authorities, the U.S. Embassy in Rome estimates that 130 Americans may have been on board.

UPDATE II: Search continues for missing.

Some passengers were rescued by lifeboat, helicopters plucked to safety some who were trapped on the ship, and others jumped from the ship into the cold sea.

Some of the survivors are suffering from shock. About 40 people are being treated in hospital.

Coast guard captain Cosimo Nicastro told Italian TV that divers had carried out an extensive search of the waters near the vessel and found no bodies.

But he added that there still might be some “in the belly of the ship”.

UPDATE II: Italian prosecutors have detained the captain of the cruise ship