Italy lists missing cruise ship passengers
By The Associated Press
Italian rescue workers suspended operations Wednesday after a stricken cruise ship shifted slightly on the rocks near the Tuscan coast, creating deep concerns about the safety of divers and firefighters searching for the 22 people still missing.
The $450 million Costa Concordia cruise ship was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew when it slammed into the reef Friday off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after the captain made an unauthorized maneuver.
The death toll stands at 11, and none of the dead have been identified so far. Italian authorities released the names of 24 passengers and 4 crew still missing, a list that includes six of the dead. The missing included 13 Germans, six Italians, four French, two Americans from Minnesota and one person each from Hungary, India and Peru.
Instruments attached to the ship detected the movements early Wednesday even though firefighters who spent the night searching the area above water for the missing could not detect any movement.
"As a precautionary measure, we stopped the operations this morning, in order to verify the data we retrieved from our detectors, and understand if there actually was a movement, and if there has been one, how big this was," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini.
By late afternoon, officials still did not have enough data to reassure them that the ship had stopped resettling. The latest victims were discovered after navy divers exploded holes in the hull of the ship to allow easier access.
Premier Mario Monti offered his first comment on the disaster Wednesday, telling a press conference in London that it "could and should" have been avoided.
PASSENGERS:
Dayana Arlotti, Italy
William M. Arlotti, Italy
Elisabeth Bauer, Germany
Michael M. Blemand, France
Maria Dintrono, Italy
Horst Galle, Germany
Jeanne Gannard, France
Christina Mathi Ganz, Germany
Norbert Josef Ganz, Germany
Gertrud Goergens, Germany
Pierre Gregoire, France
Gabriele Grube, Germany
Barbara Heil, United States
Gerald Heil, United States
Egon Hoer, Germany
Mylene Litzler, France
Margarethe Neth, Germany
Inge Schall, Germany
Siglinde Stumpf, Germany
Brunhild Werp, Germany
Josef Werp, Germany
Margrit Schroeter, Germany
Maria Grazia Trecarichi, Italy
Luisa Antonia Virzi, Italy
CREW
Sandor Feher, Hungary
Girolamo Giuseppe, Italy
Russel Terence Rebello, India
Erika Fani Soriamolina, Peru
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
