VIDEO: 11 dead, 24 still missing from cruise ship crashed off Italy
The Costa Concordia rests on its side off the coast of Italy among the rocks that ultimately proved to be its demise. (Photo from Reuters video.)
Some 24 people are still missing and at least 11 people are dead after the cruise ship accident off the coast of Italy over the weekend.
Italian officials blasted holes into the side of the ship in order to try and create more routes into the ship, where more bodies are likely to be discovered. The latest five victims were found in the ship’s stern, below the waterline, still wearing their life jackets, The New York Times reported.
“We are currently trying to retrieve them,” Italian Coast Guard Commander Filippo Marini said to the Times.
Two Americans, from Minnesota, remain among the missing.
According to CNN, at least 10 times Italian officials ordered the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, to return to his sinking ship.
“You get on board! This is an order!” a port official said, according to a transcript obtained by CNN. “You have declared ‘Abandon ship.’ Now I’m in charge. You get on board — is that clear?”
Schettino, however, never returned to the ship. Now authorities are trying to determine whether criminal charges will be filed against him. According to The Times, a judge will determine whether formal charges should be filed, though Schettino was detained over the weekend because authorities feared he would flee the country.
Schettino may face charges that include manslaughter, shipwreck, and abandoning a ship when passengers were still on board, chief prosecutor Francesco Verusio said to CNN.
