The captain's conduct criticized the divers found more deaths

The captain's conduct criticized the divers found more deaths

The captain's conduct criticized the divers found more deaths

Maritime authorities, passengers and increasing evidence points Sunday the master of a cruise ship that ran aground and sank off the Tuscan coast, in the midst of accusations that he jumped ship before All were evacuated safely and showed where he led the ship too close to shore.Look for divers to the dark depths of the Costa Concordia partially submerged found the bodies of two elderly men still in their jackets, so that the death toll to five. At least 15 people remain missing, including two Americans.The recovered bodies were discovered in an emergency meeting point near the restaurant where a lot of 4200 on board were having dinner when the luxury cruise ship hit rocks or a reef off the tiny island of Giglio. The Italian news agency ANSA reported that the dead were an Italian and Spanish.Yet there were glimmers of hope: The rescue of three survivors - a young couple from South Korea in their honeymoon and a member of the crew had to land in a dramatic airlift of about 36 hours after the grounding on Friday night.Meanwhile, the focus is on the captain, who was discovered by officers of the Coast Guard and the passengers flee the scene chaotic and terrifying evacuation was in progress.Italian owner of the ship, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise Lines issued a statement Sunday saying he seemed "a significant human error" by the captain, Francesco Schettino, "which led to such serious consequences."The authorities held suspects for murder Schettino and a prosecutor confirmed Sunday it was investigating the allegations of the captain also left the affected ship until all the passengers had escaped. According to the Italian Code of Navigation, a captain who leaves a ship in distress can cope with 12 years in prison.A French couple who addressed the Concordia in Marseille, Ophelie David Du Pays Gondel and said to the Associated Press that he saw the captain in a lifeboat, covered by a blanket, well before all the passengers were out the ship."The commander on the left front and was in the hold before anyone else was outside," said Gondel, 28, an officer in the French army."Normally, the commander will not be the end," said Du Pays, a policeman who said he helped an injured passenger in a lifeboat. "I did what I could."Coast Guard saw later, Schettino on earth as the evacuation took place. The police asked him to return to his ship and honor their duty to remain on board until everyone was sure that the boat, but he ignored them, the commander of the Coast Guard. Francesco said Paolillo.Schettino insisted that he leave the principles of lining, telling Mediaset television he had done everything possible to save lives. "We were the last to leave the ship," he said.The questions also swirled about why the ship has sailed so close to the dangerous reefs and rocks protruding from the east coast of Giglio, amid suspicions the master may have ventured too close as part of a ploy to entertain tourists on the island.The owner of the ship, Costa Crociere SpA, issued a statement Sunday saying he was working with investigators to determine "exactly what happened on board the Costa Concordia.""While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been human error significantly by the ship's captain, Captain Francesco Schettino, which led to such serious consequences," the statement said. "The ship's route seems to have been too close to the coast, and the trial of Captain in the emergency management seems to have followed standard procedures Costa ".Residents of Giglio said he had never seen the coast so close to the danger zone "The Scole" reef."It was too close, too close," said Italo Arienti, a sailor, 54, who worked on the ferry between Maregiglio Felix and the continent for over a decade. Pointing to a chart, he drew his finger along the route of the ship usually takes and shakes a fence that followed the coast Friday.The ship was only 150 meters (yards) from the coast at the time of the grounding, the ANSA quoted the prosecutor Francesco Verusio Grosseto say.Schettino insisted that it was twice as far and said that the ship ran aground because the stones are not marked on their maps.However, do recognize that it was a maneuver the craft into the "tourist shipping" - which means a route that was a deviation from the norm and is designed to entertain tourists."We sailed about 300 meters (yards) of rock," he told Mediaset television. "There should have been like a stone. In the table indicates that the water was much lower."Captains led sometimes Costa ships near the port and blew the horn of salvation special Arienti said. This water "fly-by" was made in August, prompting the mayor to send a thank you note to the commander for the treatment provided by tourists who flock to the island, the local news portal GiglioNews.it said.But Arienti and other residents said that even on those occasions, the cruise always stayed away from the coast, beyond the scope of "The Scole" reefs."From time to time, make a wish, but not so close - far, certainly," said Giacomo Dannipale residents.Douglas Ward, a cruise expert and author of the Berlitz guide to cruising in 2012, these waters are around Giglio too shallow for such maneuvers.The commander of the Coast Guard. Filippo Marini said that divers had found the so-called "black box" with the recording navigation data, a magazine now under water, but gave no details were released.Jorgen Loren, president of the Swedish shipping agent, said Capt. clearly deviated from the planned route of the ship."It is remarkable because the weather was good and the cruise ships have the best equipment and latest techniques. All conditions were ideal, "he said."Waters are well known, the ferries pass by daily round trips to the continent," he said.Meanwhile, rescue efforts continued throughout the night half-submerged in Concord, said the spokesman Luca Cari firefighters. Sniffer dogs have been made, but it was unclear whether they could be adapted to work in an environment where the horizontal is now vertical, because the list of 90 degrees from the ship.Marini, the master of the Coast Guard was still hope that there might be survivors, perhaps hidden in the water even higher, or that some passengers missing, just not reported his arrival in any safety on land.Sunday, a helicopter made a cabin shell cast members a few hours after the honeymoon to South Korea were saved from their cabin when firefighters heard her screams.A relative of the rescued crew member told reporters that they had survived two nights in the dark and the ocean.In addition to the two found dead Sunday, the bodies of three other victims - two French passengers and a crew member from Peru - were removed from the sea in the first hours after the accident.Survivors described a terrible leak that was taken of a scene from "Titanic". Many have complained that the crew did not give good instructions on how to remove emergency and once it became clear, the delay in reducing the lifeboats until the ship was listing all being released."We were left to ourselves," Isabelle Mougin French pregnant passenger, who injured his ankle in the fight, told the news agency ANSA.Another passenger, French, Jeanne-Marie de Campos, said that in the chaotic scene in the lifeboats, he decided to take their chances to swim to shore."I fear that the bank would not, but then saw it was close enough, I felt calmer," he told Sky News 24.Coast Guard divers Majko Aidone, interviewed by Sky TG24 television after immersion, said the first task after accessing a submerged space, is to attach large floating objects such as mattresses, which could become dangerous obstacles.Then, hoping to alert survivors to their presence, "it makes a noise," he said.The ship's crew boarded the vessel hull exposed and affected near the site of the 160-foot (50 meter) the court where the water flooded and caused the vessel to overturn.Sunday Mass in the main church of Felix, which opened its doors to evacuees on the night of Friday, the altar boys and girls has a life jacket, ropes, helmets jackets, plastic sheetingand some bread.Don Lorenzo, the parish priest, told the faithful who no doubt wanted to do this "different" offered to God as a reminder of the tragedy."Our community, our island will never be the same," he said.

Survivors plucked from shipwreck

A luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel early Saturday, the Italian coast guard said. So far, South Korean honeymoon couple and an injured crewmember were plucked from a capsized Italian liner on Jan. 15, more than a day after it was wrecked, as rescue workers struggled to find any others still trapped on board.