Two survivors were found early Sunday aboard a luxury cruise ship that ran aground off the western coast of Italy, while its captain has been taken into custody and is answering questions about the evacuation effort.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that rescuers found two passengers alive and in good condition in a cabin aboard the ship that ran aground off Tuscany a day earlier. They were identified as a 29-year-old South Korean couple on their honeymoon.
Prato fire commander Vincenzo Bennardo told The Associated Press rescuers who had been banging on doors of the ship cabins all night heard a reply from one of the rooms early Sunday.
The Costa Concordia went aground near the tiny island of Giglio and turned on its side Friday night, leaving three people dead and forcing some 4,200 aboard to evacuate.
Italian news reports have identified the three dead as two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman.
Although only three bodies have been pulled from the sea, officials fear there may be more. Italian authorities say that approximately 40 people remain unaccounted for.
Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) confirmed Saturday that 12 Canadians were on board the ship, all of whom made it off the vessel safely.
"Canadian consular officials in Italy are working with local authorities to gather additional information concerning this incident, and are in touch with Canadian citizens who were on the ship," a statement from the department read. "Canadian consular officials are providing consular assistance as needed."
Sky Italia reported late Saturday that investigators in Grosseto have confirmed that Capt. Francisco Schettino has been detained for investigation on manslaughter, abandoning a ship with people still on board and causing a shipwreck.
According to Italy's ANSA news agency, Schettino has been taken to the Grosseto jail until a judge can decide next week if he should be formally arrested and face charges.
Associated Press correspondent Nicole Winfield said Saturday passengers she has spoken to have been largely critical of the slow nature of the evacuation effort. She said some passengers also claim to have seen the ship's captain in a lifeboat well before all passengers were off the boat.
"(The captain) has been taken into custody. He was questioned earlier today, according to Italian media reports," Winfield told CTV News Channel.
"There have been no formal charges so we don't know where the investigation is going to go. But he is in custody."
Twelve hours after the incident, the marooned vessel could be seen tipped on its starboard side with a 50-metre gash in the hull, half of it practically submerged in water.
Evacuees have been placed in communities along the Italian coast as local authorities try to determine why the ship ran aground.
In a statement released Saturday, Costa Cruises suggested problems arose when the boat was steered away from a rock.
"Unfortunately, this operation was complicated as result of a sudden tilt of the ship that has made difficult the disembarkation," the note read.
Company president Gianni Onorato offered victims his condolences.
"I want to express our deep sorrow for this terrible tragedy that devastates us," he said in the release.
Drill scheduled for day after incident
Meanwhile, freelance journalist Josephine McKenna says many evacuees are frustrated with the way the incident was handled.
"Many of the passengers have also complained that there was major chaos, there wasn't a strategy for evacuating people," she told CTV News Channel in a phone interview from Rome.
Passengers have said the crew had an evacuation drill scheduled for Saturday afternoon, the day after the incident.
Melissa Goduti, a passenger from Wallingford, Connecticut, noted the irony of the lesson's timing.
"We had joked what if something had happened today," the 28-year-old told The Associated Press.
When the ship first hit the shoreline, the vessel's lights went out and passengers were told that they had simply lost power, reported McKenna.
Panic ensued moments later when "tables started falling and plates and glasses were crashing," she noted. It's believed that that's when the boat began to take in water and tilt.
A coast guard official from the Tuscan port of Livorno said the ship "hit an obstacle," but didn't elaborate further.
‘Trapped inside the ship as it tipped over'
Helicopters were called to the scene to assist passengers who weren't in a position to board lifeboats. Some boats in the area also helped whisk away survivors.
"No one counted us, neither in the life boats or on land," passenger Ophelie Gondelle told the Associated Press, adding that there hadn't been an evacuation drill since boarding in early January.
It was a terrifying ordeal for 60 passengers in particular, who were trapped inside and had to be freed by firemen, said McKenna.
"They were trapped inside the ship as it tipped over," she said.
McKenna noted that there were some Canadians, Americans and Australians, as well as several hundred Europeans on board, but a passenger list with exact numbers hasn't been released.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Francesco Paolillo said the Concordia is believed to have set sail with 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew members.
Thousands of survivors have now been displaced and are taking refuge in schools, hotels and even a church on the island of Giglio, where they outnumber the modest population of 1,500.
Operator Costa Cruises said the ship was sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, starting in Citavecchia with ports of call in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallora, Cagliari and Palermo.
According to ANSA, the Concordia suffered damage in 2008 when strong winds caused it to hit a dock in Palermo but no one was injured.
Police continue to question the ship's current captain, said McKenna.
DFAIT has urged any Canadians who believe they know someone who was on the ship to call them toll-free at 1-800-387-3184.
With files from The Associated Press
