Italy cruise ship runs aground, at least six reported dead

ROME — Eight people died in the early hours of Saturday after a cruise ship ran aground off the Italian coast in an accident which forced the coast guard to evacuate over 4,000 people, media reports said.
The Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it hit a reef near the Isola del Giglio late Friday.
Eight people were killed and several people were still missing after jumping overboard in panic as the ship began to tilt, the Messaggero newspaper said.
One of the victims was a man in his 70s who died of a heart attack caused by the shock to his system when he jumped into the icy waters, reports said.
Over thirty people were also injured in the accident, several seriously.
Most of the 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members were quickly evacuated, but coast guards struggled to rescue around 200 people stuck on board.
Helicopters with spotlights were used to help rescuers.
"At around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) the 290-metre-long Costa Concordia cruise ship... began taking on water and tilting over by around 20 degrees," the coast guard said in a statement, as most of those aboard were rescued in lifeboats.
Passengers heard a large bang and were initially told the ship had shuddered to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets, a passenger from the boat told ANSA news agency by telephone.


The Italian news agency Ansa quoted rescue workers as saying at least six people were killed and a number injured, but that the cause of the deaths was not immediately known. Ansa said some people had jumped into the water.


No official confirmation of the reported deaths was immediately available.


About five hours after the incident, several hundred people were still on board the ship and waiting to be evacuated.


Ansa quoted passengers as saying the ship jolted as dinner was being served and that the electricity went out for a while before the evacuation operation began.

The Italian coastguard said the ship had taken on water and was listing about 20 degrees but that there was no danger of it sinking.


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