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Sixty nine people are believed to be missing and three are dead after a packed cruise liner began capsizing off the Italian coast after running aground.
Twenty-four British holidaymakers were on the Costa Concordia which had left port at 7pm for a seven-day Mediterranean Cruise - but within two hours, it ran aground in the sea with a major electrical fault.
The 13 deck liner then began to take on water after hitting rocks creating a 160ft gash in the hull, near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast - two weeks into the Titanic centenary year.
About 4,200 passengers and crew were evacuated but Italian officials said this afternoon 69 had not yet been accounted for, although they warned the passenger list might not be fully up-to-date.
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Tragedy: A terrified passenger said it was 'like a scene from the Titanic' as the ship began to sink and people were ordered into lifeboats and airlifted to safety
Damage: The luxury cruise liner lies virtually flat, its right-hand side submerged in the water. The huge hole in the hull is clearly visible
Italian news agency Ansa said 4,165 out of the 4,234 people on-board were safe but did not know the whereabouts of the remaining 69.
Coast guards and divers have spent the morning searching the submerged decks, the BBC said.
The Concordia's grounding should serve as a wake-up call to the shipping industry and those who regulate it, the maritime professionals' union Nautilus International said.
Passengers said the ship had begun to sink so much it was difficult to launch lifeboats, while some said they saw holiday-makers leaping into the water to swim to safety.
At least three bodies have been recovered from the sea. Fourteen people are believed to have minor injuries such as bruising.
The Foreign Office said it was not aware of any injuries or fatalities to Britons. One hundred and twenty nine Americans are believed to have been on board.
Among the dead was a man around age 65, who officials believe may not have been able to withstand the cold of the sea at night.
It is thought that the death toll may still rise and there are reports some people are still not accounted for.
Terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man life boats as the 850ft-long luxury 'floating palace', which costs up to £1,200 a night, began to list heavily to one side by about 20 degrees.
Helicopters plucked to safety some 50 people who were trapped on the liner.
By this morning, the ship was lying virtually flat off the coast, its starboard side submerged in the water.
Coast guards and divers have spent the morning searching the submerged decks, the BBC said.
The Concordia's grounding should serve as a wake-up call to the shipping industry and those who regulate it, the maritime professionals' union Nautilus International said.
Passengers said the ship had begun to sink so much it was difficult to launch lifeboats, while some said they saw holiday-makers leaping into the water to swim to safety.
At least three bodies have been recovered from the sea. Fourteen people are believed to have minor injuries such as bruising.
The Foreign Office said it was not aware of any injuries or fatalities to Britons. One hundred and twenty nine Americans are believed to have been on board.
Among the dead was a man around age 65, who officials believe may not have been able to withstand the cold of the sea at night.
Submerged: Passengers said it was difficult to launch lifeboats as they ship had listed so much but fortunately ferries arrived to rescue them
Collision: Rocks embedded in the ruptured side of the Costa Concordia reveal the extent of the damage to the hull
Close-up: A woman looks at the cruise ship as it lies half in the water off the coast of Italy. Three people have been killed
Terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man life boats as the 850ft-long luxury 'floating palace', which costs up to £1,200 a night, began to list heavily to one side by about 20 degrees.
Helicopters plucked to safety some 50 people who were trapped on the liner.
By this morning, the ship was lying virtually flat off the coast, its starboard side submerged in the water.
Waiting game: A passenger took this photo of a group of passengers in life-jackets on board the liner as they waited to be rescued
Darkness: The hull of the massive Costa Concordia was damaged as it ran aground and water began pouring in
'We were having dinner aboard when we heard a loud noise, like that of the keel being dragged over something,' passenger Luciano Castro told Italian state radio.
The lights went out 'and there were scenes of panic, glasses falling to the floor,' he said.
Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said 'it was like a scene from the Titanic.'
Passengers complained the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.
The evacuation drill was only scheduled for Saturday afternoon, even though some passengers had already been on board for several days.
Disaster: The Costa Concordia lies partly submerged this morning after hitting rocks. So passengers were rescued by helicopter
Worried: Passengers in life jackets, blankets and coats arrive on the ferry this morning following the disaster off the coast of Tuscany last night
Rescue: A Carabinieri boat approaches the Costa Concordia as it lies partly submerged in the water off the coast of Tuscany 
Passengers spoke of having to crawl along near vertical hallways and stairwells to escape the ship as it began to take on more and more water
'Have you seen 'Titanic?' That's exactly what it was,' said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean.
They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along hallways and stairwells that were nearly vertical, trying to reach rescue boats.
'We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing,' her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61, said. 'We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls.'
Rescue workers help a woman at Porto Santo Stefano, after the cruise ship began sinking last night. No Britons are believed to have been injured or killed
Three passengers huddle in blankets as they arrive on a ferry in Porto Santo Stefano. Twenty-four Britons were on board
Mrs Ananias said: 'I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn't want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn't hold her.
'I thought that was the end and I thought they should be with their baby,' she said.
The family said they were some of the last off the ship, forced to shimmy along a rope down the exposed side of the ship to a waiting rescue vessel.
Survivor Christine Hammer, from Bonn, Germany, shivered near the harbor of Porto Santo Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio.
The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on the tiny island of Giglio, a popular holiday isle about 18 miles off Italy's central west coast
Distressed: Passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano visibly upset by the tragedy including this woman, right
Hammer, 65, said that she was eating her first course, an appetizer of squid, on her first night aboard her first-ever cruise, which was a gift to her and her husband, Gert, from her local church where she volunteers.
Suddenly, 'we heard a crash. Glasses and plates fell down and we went out of the dining room and we were told it wasn't anything dangerous,' she said.
The passengers were instructed to put on life jackets and take to the life rafts but, Hammer said, they couldn't get into the boats, because the cruise liner was tilting so much the boats couldn't be lowered into the cold, night sea.
The passengers were eventually rescued by one of several boats in the area that came to their aid.
The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on the tiny island of Giglio, a popular holiday isle about 18 miles off Italy's central west coast.
Those evacuated by helicopter were flown to Grosseto, while others, rescued by local ferries pressed into emergency service, took survivors to the port of Porto Santo Stefano on the nearby mainland.
'It was terrible,' Hammer said, as German and Spanish tourists were about to board buses at the port.
Fabio Costa, who worked in a shop on the stricken cruise ship, said a number of people were jumping into the sea to swim ashore.
Rescue workers helps a woman as she is lead to safety at Porto Santo Stefano. Lifeboats had difficulty launching
A police officer holds a baby wrapped in a blanket, left, while distressed passengers huddle in blankets after being rescued from the sinking liner
'A FLOATING TEMPLE THAT WILL AMAZE YOU': COSTA CONCORDIA
The Costa Concordia holds 3,700 passengers and made its maiden voyage in June 2006.
The website describes the vessel as a 'real floating temple of fun that will amaze you'.
It has four swimming pools, five restaurants, 13 bars, spa, cinema, fitness centra and even a jogging track. There are 1,500 cabins in total.
Prices for winter cruises in the Mediterranean start at £390 but can top £1,200 for a top of the range suite with sea view.
It is 950ft long and has 13 decks in total. The liner has a top speed of 21.5knots. (40km/h)
Italian media reported that the ship had been involved in a previous accident in Italian waters in 2008, when strong winds caused the ship to bang against the port's dock in Palermo, the Sicilian capital. No one was injured although the ship was damaged.
'We could only feel that the boat had hit something, we had no idea how serious it was until we got out and we looked through the window and we saw the water getting closer and closer. Everything happened really, really fast and we saw the water coming in.'
Mr Costa said that once the emergency alarm was set off people started to panic and push each other in a bid to get into lifeboats.
'A lot of people were falling down the stairs and were hurt because things fell on them,' he added.
He said: 'We just saw a huge rock, that was probably where the ship hit, and people were having huge trouble trying to get on the lifeboats.
'So at that point we didn't know what to do so it took hours for people to get off the ship.
'It was easier for people to jump into the sea because we were on the same level as that water so some people pretty much just decided to swim as they were not able to get on the lifeboats.'
As dawn neared, a painstaking search of the ship's interior was being conducted to see if anyone might have been trapped inside.
Coast Guard Commander Francesco Paolillo said: 'No one is leaning out, shouting, calling that they need help, but until the inspection is completed, we won't know.'
Terrified: Passengers are seen in a rescue boat of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia near the island of Giglio wearing orange life vests
Coastguard officials confirmed that 3,200 passengers were onboard at the time along with 1,000 crew members and all had been evacuated by lifeboat and taken to the island of Giglio
Operation: Rescue boats of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia arrive in the harbour and dozens of passengers are pictured on the quayside
General Secretary Mark Dickinson said Nautilus is concerned about the 'rapid recent increases in the size of passenger ships' - with the average tonnage doubling over the past decade.
(dailymail.co.uk)
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