Its the space for the just arrived news/data...
A luxury cruise ends in tragedy
Costa Concordia~~~
Mayday Mayday Mayday
This is Costa Concordia x 3
'Sinking Sinking Sinking.....'
The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, well known by Maltese travellers when it used to call at Grand Harbour, ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio last night and is listing heavily. Initial reports said that eight people died during evacuation and 15 were injured. That figure was revised to three confirmed dead at 9.30 a.m.
At 1 p.m. around 70 people were still missing but could be safe on the island of Giglio near the scene of the accident, an official said.
The ship was carrying 4,000 passengers on a cruise which started from Rome and did not include Malta in the itinerary. A spokesman for SMS, local agents of Costa Lines, said the company had had no bookings for this cruise.
The victims are believed to have jumped overboard in panic as the ship began to list, the Messaggero newspaper said.
One of the victims was a man in his 70s who died of a heart attack caused by the shock to his system when he jumped into the icy waters, reports said.
Over thirty people were also injured in the accident, several seriously.
Most of the 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members were quickly evacuated, but coast guards struggled to rescue around 200 people stuck on board.
Helicopters with spotlights were used to help rescuers.
"At around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) the 290-metre-long Costa Concordia cruise ship... began taking on water and listing by around 20 degrees," the coast guard said in a statement, as most of those aboard were rescued in lifeboats.
Passengers heard a large bang and were initially told the ship had shuddered to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets, a passenger from the boat told ANSA news agency by telephone. The ship may have hit a reef.
"We were having supper when the lights suddenly went out, we heard a boom and a groaning noise, and all the cutlery fell on the floor," passenger Luciano Castro told ANSA news agency.
Some passengers jumped into the sea in their hurry to get off the sinking ship, according to the reports.
"It was like a scene from the Titanic," said passenger Mara Parmegiani.
The local mayor said they were trying to find room to accommodate the rescued passengers, including pregnant women and children.
"We are trying to accommodate them anywhere we can, in schools, nurseries, hotels, anywhere that has a roof," said mayor Sergio Ortelli, who added that some passengers were even bedding down for the night in the church.
The Costa Crociera company, which owns the vessel, said that it was not yet possible to say what caused the problem, but that the evacuation had been fast.
"The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said.
"There were around 1,000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 160 French people," it added, without giving details about the rest.
The cruise ship -- which boasts 58 suites with balconies, five restaurants, 13 bars, five Jacuzzis and four swimming pools -- had set off from the Civitavecchia port near Rome earlier yesterday when it ran into difficulties.
Boats from the nearby port helped evacuate the passengers and crew.
Patrick Cooke
A luxury cruise ends in tragedy
Ship was due to visit Malta from March to November
Photos: PA
A luxury cruise ended in tragedy on Friday evening when the
Italian cruiseliner Costa Concordia – a frequent visitor to Malta – ran
aground off the coast of Tuscany, leaving at least three people dead and
forcing some 4,200 people onboard to be evacuated to the nearby island
of Giglio.
Italian officials said the death toll could rise, with 41 people
still unaccounted for yesterday evening. However, they cautioned that
the passenger list may not have been up-to-date and some unaccounted for
passengers were thought to be sheltering with local residents in their
homes.
Coast guard vessels spent the day searching the waters around the ship as it lay on its side, while divers performed a painstaking search of the submerged decks.
Emergency services said about 40 people were wounded, including two seriously, with concussion and spinal injuries.
A spokesman for SMS, local agents for Costa Cruises, said the company had not booked any Maltese passengers on the cruise.
The three confirmed victims – two French passengers and one Peruvian crewman – are believed to have died after jumping into the sea in panic as the ship began to list. It was reported that one of the victims was an elderly Frenchman who died of a heart attack in the icy waters.
The Concordia had set off in mild weather from Rome earlier that day on a Mediterranean cruise, with scheduled calls in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.
Passengers reported that tragedy struck as dinner was being served on the evening of Friday 13 – a date synonymous with ill fortune.
Passenger Mara Parmegiani told ANSA: “It was like a scene from the Titanic,” in a reference to the ‘unsinkable’ passenger liner that was downed by an iceberg in the Atlantic 100 years ago, with the loss of 1,517 lives.
The Italian coastguard released a statement saying the 290-metre-cruise ship began taking on water at around 8 p.m.
Orders were given to abandon ship and passengers and crew attempted to evacuate the stricken vessel in lifeboats, with some opting to swim roughly 400 metres to shore.
An evacuation drill had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon and some passengers complained to the media that the crew failed togive adequate instructions on how to evacuate.
Helicopters from the coastguard, navy and air force took turns attempting to airlift the remaining survivors who were unable to evacuate the ship as it listed so severely they could not launch the lifeboats. Evacuees were given refuge in schools, hotels, homes and a church on Giglio. Most have now been moved to the mainland.
Photographs showed a huge gash in the hull more than 50 metres wide. The coastguard said although it was too early to know exactly what happened, they suspected the incident was a result of the ship sailing too close to an obstacle like a reef. A large rock could be seen inside the vessel.
Italian prosecutors detained the captain of the ship yesterday evening after questioning him for several hours, ANSA news agency reported.
Earlier captain Francesco Schettino had told Italian television that the vessel had hit a rocky spur while cruising in waters which, according to the charts, should have been safe.
The Costa Concordia was scheduled to call at Malta every Friday from March to November this year. The €450 million ship last visited the island two months ago.
An SMS spokesman confirmed that Maltese passengers had booked to sail aboard the Costa Concordia later this year, but it was too early to say what would happen to these bookings.
“We are waiting for an official announcement from Costa Cruises. They may be able to salvage the ship or they might provide a replacement. We just don’t know at this stage,” he said.
He acknowledged that the tragedy may affect bookings in the short term but stressed that cruise holidays were still very safe.
Jennifer Grech, who sails every year with Costa Cruises and had sailed on the Concordia in 2006, told The Sunday Times she was in total shock when she saw the news.
She recalled that safety provisions on board the Concordia had seemed adequate, “but performing a drillis one thing, facing real-life panic is a different story”.
The incident will not deter her from sailing with Costa again, however.
• Built by Fincantieri near Venice for €450 million.
• Length of 290 metres.
• Capacity for 3,780 passengers in 1,500 cabins.
• Facilities include spa, four pools, seven restaurants, 13 bars, sports pitch, theatre, casino, cinema and disco.
It was like a scene from Titanic
Coast guard vessels spent the day searching the waters around the ship as it lay on its side, while divers performed a painstaking search of the submerged decks.
Emergency services said about 40 people were wounded, including two seriously, with concussion and spinal injuries.
A spokesman for SMS, local agents for Costa Cruises, said the company had not booked any Maltese passengers on the cruise.
The three confirmed victims – two French passengers and one Peruvian crewman – are believed to have died after jumping into the sea in panic as the ship began to list. It was reported that one of the victims was an elderly Frenchman who died of a heart attack in the icy waters.
The Concordia had set off in mild weather from Rome earlier that day on a Mediterranean cruise, with scheduled calls in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.
Passengers reported that tragedy struck as dinner was being served on the evening of Friday 13 – a date synonymous with ill fortune.
Passenger Mara Parmegiani told ANSA: “It was like a scene from the Titanic,” in a reference to the ‘unsinkable’ passenger liner that was downed by an iceberg in the Atlantic 100 years ago, with the loss of 1,517 lives.
The Italian coastguard released a statement saying the 290-metre-cruise ship began taking on water at around 8 p.m.
Orders were given to abandon ship and passengers and crew attempted to evacuate the stricken vessel in lifeboats, with some opting to swim roughly 400 metres to shore.
An evacuation drill had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon and some passengers complained to the media that the crew failed togive adequate instructions on how to evacuate.
Helicopters from the coastguard, navy and air force took turns attempting to airlift the remaining survivors who were unable to evacuate the ship as it listed so severely they could not launch the lifeboats. Evacuees were given refuge in schools, hotels, homes and a church on Giglio. Most have now been moved to the mainland.
Photographs showed a huge gash in the hull more than 50 metres wide. The coastguard said although it was too early to know exactly what happened, they suspected the incident was a result of the ship sailing too close to an obstacle like a reef. A large rock could be seen inside the vessel.
Italian prosecutors detained the captain of the ship yesterday evening after questioning him for several hours, ANSA news agency reported.
Earlier captain Francesco Schettino had told Italian television that the vessel had hit a rocky spur while cruising in waters which, according to the charts, should have been safe.
The Costa Concordia was scheduled to call at Malta every Friday from March to November this year. The €450 million ship last visited the island two months ago.
An SMS spokesman confirmed that Maltese passengers had booked to sail aboard the Costa Concordia later this year, but it was too early to say what would happen to these bookings.
“We are waiting for an official announcement from Costa Cruises. They may be able to salvage the ship or they might provide a replacement. We just don’t know at this stage,” he said.
He acknowledged that the tragedy may affect bookings in the short term but stressed that cruise holidays were still very safe.
Jennifer Grech, who sails every year with Costa Cruises and had sailed on the Concordia in 2006, told The Sunday Times she was in total shock when she saw the news.
She recalled that safety provisions on board the Concordia had seemed adequate, “but performing a drillis one thing, facing real-life panic is a different story”.
The incident will not deter her from sailing with Costa again, however.
Fact box
• Entered service in 2006.• Built by Fincantieri near Venice for €450 million.
• Length of 290 metres.
• Capacity for 3,780 passengers in 1,500 cabins.
• Facilities include spa, four pools, seven restaurants, 13 bars, sports pitch, theatre, casino, cinema and disco.
No comments:
Post a Comment