[VIDEO] Costa Concordia Accident: Panic and Freezing Water

Captain and First Officer have been arrested as up to 70 cruise passengers are missing and 3 (three) dead as survivors tell of ‘chaotic evacuation’. Passengers tell of ‘complete chaos’ as crew members said ‘Go back to your cabins’. Survivors leapt for their lives into the icy sea as the liner rolled onto its starboard (right hand) side. Captain of the ship is now in custody with another crew member.
The ship was ’4 (four) miles off course’ when it hit rocks. Bodies of 2 (two) French passengers and a Peruvian crewman have now been recovered. One victim (65) died from a heart attack following the extreme shock of plunging into the horrifically cold water. The passenger Liner had listed (i.e. tilted) at such a sharp angle & so badly that the ‘lifeboats had difficulty being launched’.
37 Britons were on board but none died or were injured. The ship was on course from the port for Rome to Savona in north eastern Italy. Divers were last night searching the Italian luxury cruise liner that capsized in the Mediterranean, amid fears that passengers were left trapped inside.
More than 4,000 people were rescued when the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on Friday 13th January, leaving two passengers and a crew member confirmed dead. But last night up to 40 people were still missing.
The Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, and first officer Ciro Ambrosio were detained last night at the police station in Porto Santo Stefano on the Italian mainland, as they faced continuing questioning about the events leading up to the disaster. Prosecutors are investigating possible charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning the ship while passengers were still in danger.
The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, Francesco Schettino is taken into custody in Grosseto, Italy
The ship was on a Mediterranean cruise starting from the Italian city of Civitavecchia with scheduled calls at Savona, Cagliari and Palermo, all also in Italy; Marseilles in France; and Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
As divers searched areas of the ship that were now underwater, there was some concern for their safety if the vessel shifted. ‘It is a very delicate operation because the ship might move or sink farther,’ said a spokesman for Italy’s coastguard. ‘This could endanger the divers, trapping them inside the wreck.’
Many of the passengers were sitting down to eat in the Concordia’s restaurants when they heard a loud bang followed by a ‘terrible groaning’ noise.
Diners were instructed to remain seated even as the ship began listing. According to the captain, the ship had an electrical problem. But although it soon became clear that the problem was far worse, passengers continued to be told for a good 45 minutes that there was a simple technical problem.
Even when the situation became clearer crew members delayed lowering the lifeboats even though the ship was listing badly. ‘We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the side,’ said Mike van Dijk, a 54-year-old from Pretoria, South Africa. ‘We were standing in the corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get on to the boats. It was a scramble, an absolute scramble.’
Robert Elcombe, 50, from Colchester but who now lives in Australia, said he and his wife Tracy got into a life boat — but were ordered out again when staff said it was ‘only a generator problem’ that could be fixed. He said: ‘But as we got back inside the ship it tilted so steeply that I had to grab hold of people to save them as they flew down the corridor. It was real Titanic stuff. We lost everything: passports, luggage, money. But at least we’re alive, unlike some people.’

Ship’s data