| Three people are confirmed dead after a cruise ship carrying more than 4000 people ran aground off Italy. There were scenes of panic as the Costa Concordia hit a sandbar on Friday evening near the island of Giglio and listed about 20 degrees. People reached land by lifeboats but some swam ashore. Rescue teams have been going from cabin to cabin, searching for survivors. Italians, Germans, French and British were among the 3200 passengers. There were also 1000 crew on board. Helicopters evacuated the last 50 people on the deck who were in a "worsening" situation. Three people were confirmed dead, Italian coast guard officials said on Saturday morning - fewer than the six or eight deaths reported by Italian media earlier. Mediterranean cruise The Costa Concordia had sailed earlier on Friday from Civitavecchia port near Rome for a Mediterranean cruise, due to dock in Marseille after calling at ports in Sicily, Sardinia and Spain. One thousand passengers were Italian, with 500 Germans and 160 French. Some "tens" of British passengers are believed to have been on board, said the UK Foreign Office, which is sending a team to the scene. Some passengers told the Associated Press the crew had failed to give instructions on how to evacuate the ship. An evacuation drill was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. "It was so unorganised, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 17:00 (16:00 GMT)," Melissa Goduti, 28, from the US told AP. "We had joked what if something had happened today ... |
