Yahoo: Divers find 8 more bodies in ship wreckage

REPORT: Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship off a Tuscan island found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said.
Italy's national civil protection agency, which is monitoring the operation off a Tuscan island, said three of the bodies were recovered a few hours after being spotted by fire department divers. It said they are those of a woman, a girl and a man. Because of worsening weather, the divers were not able to immediately remove the other five bodies.
The bodies were being transferred to a hospital on the mainland for identification, a process which could take days. Before Wednesday's development, 15 people were listed as missing, but only one of them was a child, Dayana Arlotti. The 5-year-old girl was on the Mediterranean cruise with her father and his girlfriend. The girlfriend survived. The father was among the missing.

Including the missing — who are presumed dead — and bodies already recovered, the death toll in the accident stands at 32.

READ STORY HERE

Costa Concordia: investigators probe role of young Moldovan woman on cruise ship - Telegraph

REPORT: The 25-year-old blonde, identified as Domnica Cemortan, was invited onto the bridge as the cruise liner sailed perilously close to Giglio, in what was apparently a ‘salute’ to an old friend of the captain’s and a favour to the ship’s head waiter, whose family were from the island.

She was reportedly the guest of one of the ship’s officers and may be the woman that passengers saw drinking and chatting with Capt Francesco Schettino on Friday evening, a few hours before the Costa Concordia ran aground.

Italian judicial authorities, who are investigating the accident and the captain’s conduct, want to interview Ms Cemortan, who according to her Facebook page was born in Chisinau, Moldova, and lives in Bucharest, Romania.

READ REPORT HERE

Scenes from inside the Costa Concordia

Cruise Ship Rescue: Divers And Salvage Teams Fear Worsening Weather Conditions Off Italian Coast | World News | Sky News

REPORT: Divers and salvage teams face a race against time to recover bodies and siphon fuel from a stricken Italian cruise liner - amid forecasts of worsening weather.
The head of the firefighters' diving team, Modesto Dilda, said: "There is a 12 to 24 hour window to complete operations."
But the chief firefighters spokesman, Luca Cari, quickly responded by saying there is no deadline set for completing the search, adding that the situation is "still evolving".
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16152139

-Andres
twitter.com/@thenewsreel

Costa Concordia cruise ship captain Francesco Schettino DID abandon ship 'before passengers' | Mail Online

REPORT: Francesco Schettino pictured being taken into Grosseto courthouse

Arrested on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship

Ignored order from coastguard to return to ship

'Offered to return to doomed cruise liner, but only to collect black box'

Junior officers led a 'mutiny' after he dithered in giving orders

Seventh person was found dead in shipwrecked vessel, rescuers say this morning

35 Britons on board reported safe and well, more than 60 people injured, 29 still missing

Reports Schettino was dining with passengers when the accident happened

VIDEO REPORTS AT BOTTOM OF LINKED PAGE

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087704/Costa-Concordia-cruise-ship-captain-Francesco-Schettino-DID-abandon-ship-passengers.html#ixzz1jjjEMD2K

AUDIO: Costa Concordia coast guard tape: Get back on board Captain Schettino!

TRANSCRIPT Full transcript between Italian coast guard and Captain Francesco Schettino made at 1.46am on Saturday. Coast Guard: Hello. Captain: Good evening, chief. Coast Guard: Listen, this is De Falco from Livorno. Am I speaking with the captain? Captain: Good evening, Chief De Falco. Coast Guard: Tell me your name, please. Captain: I am Captain Schettino, chief. Coast Guard: Schettino? Captain: Yes. Coast Guard: Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat. Under the bow of the ship, on the right side, there is a ladder. You climb on that ladder and go on board the ship. Go on board the ship and get back to me and tell me how many people are there. Is that clear. I am recording this conversation, Captain Schettino. (Captain tries to speak but Coast Guard can’t hear him clearly.) Coast Guard: Speak up! (Captain tries to speak) Captain, put your hand over the microphone and speak in a louder voice! Captain: At this moment the ship is listing. Coast Guard: There are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. Go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship, and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. Tell me if there are children, women and what type of help they need. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board! Captain: Please ... Coast Guard: There is no ‘please’ about it. Get back on board. Assure me you are going back on board! Captain: I’m in a lifeboat, I am under here. I am not going anywhere. I am here. Coast Guard: What are you doing, Captain? Captain: I am here to coordinate the rescue... Coast Guard (interrupting): What are you coordinating there! Get on board! Coordinate the rescue from on board! Are you refusing? Captain: No, I am not refusing. Coast Guard: Are you refusing to go aboard, captain? Tell me the reason why you are not going back on board. Captain: (inaudible)... there is a another lifeboat... Coast Guard (interrupting, yelling): You get back on board! That is an order! There is nothing else for you to consider. You have sounded the ‘Abandon Ship’. Now I am giving the orders. Get back on board. Is that clear? Don’t you hear me? Captain: I am going aboard. Coast Guard: Go! Call me immediately when you are on board. My rescue people are in front of the bow. Captain: Where is your rescue craft? Coast Guard: My rescue craft is at the bow. Go! There are already bodies, Schettino. Go! Captain: How many bodies are there? Coast Guard: I don’t know! ... Christ, you should be the one telling me that! Captain: Do you realise that it is dark and we can’t see anything? Coast Guard: So, what do you want to do, to go home, Schettino?! It’s dark and you want to go home? Go to the bow of the ship where the ladder is and tell me what needs to be done, how many people there are, and what they need! Now! Captain: My second in command is here with me. Coast Guard: Then both of you go! Both of you! What is the name of your second in command? Captain: His name is Dmitri (static)” Coast Guard: What is the rest of his name? (static) You and your second in command get on board now! Is that clear? Captain: Look, chief, I want to go aboard but the other lifeboat here has stopped and is drifting. I have called ... Coast Guard (interrupting): You have been telling me this for an hour! Now, go aboard! Get on board, and tell me immediately how many people there are! Captain: OK, chief. Coast Guard: Go! Immediately! Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087704/Costa-Concordia-cruise-ship-captain-Francesco-Schettino-DID-abandon-ship-passengers.html#ixzz1jkd5BzXc

Italian Cruise Ship Sinking: Search Suspended as Captain Questioned - Yahoo! News

REPORT: Concerned that the ship might suddenly sink, Italian authorities suspended rescue efforts at the wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized this weekend off the coast of Tuscany.
The ship is resting on a 120-foot "ledge," and could slip down to a depth of about 224 feet if it becomes unstable or moves because of wind or sea shifts. There is also concern about the potential of fuel leaking from the vessel.

At a news conference today, Costa Cruises Chief Executive Officer Pier Luigi Foschi said the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, made an unapproved, unauthorized maneuver to change the ship's programmed course. Italian media has reported that Schettino was close to the shore in order to wave to a friend who was on land.

READ REPORT HERE

IT WAS LIKE THE TITANIC: Costa Concordia: Three Dead And About 40 Missing After Cruise Ship Runs Aground Off Italy - Sky News

REPORT: The captain and first officer of a cruise liner that ran aground off the coast of Italy are being held on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship while passengers were still in danger.

Three people are known to have died and around 40 others are still unaccounted for after the ship, which was carrying thousands of passengers, including British holidaymakers, apparently struck a rock.

A man and a woman were reportedly later found alive in a cabin on the stricken vessel by firefighters.

Survivors of the disaster have described chaotic scenes "like something out of the Titanic" as the Costa Concordia tilted and started to sink.

Pictures showed a massive gash in the hull more than 150ft (45m) long. There was a huge rock embedded in the side and the liner was on its side.

READ REPORT HERE:
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16148897