Italian Lord Jim: Cruise ship run aground in Italy: More aerial views of sunk Costa Concordia

The Lord Jim comment was an update...
Pray and hope that the death toll does not rise, but many are still missing.
Captain Arrested
Titanic like panic ensues.
Two French, one Peruvian passenger dead.  Mostly Italian, French and German tourists on ship.  100 Americans reported on board.  Happened at evening dinner.  First reported to be electrical problem.
Passenger describes accident.
Update:   Crew acted too slowly (according to passengers)

Update II:   Ship Captain Francesco Schettino is reported to have fled scene and abandoned passengers and crew.    The shame of Italy.

Meanwhile, attention focused on the captain, who was spotted by Coast Guard officials and passengers fleeing the scene even as the chaotic and terrifying evacuation was under way. The ship's Italian owner, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise lines, issued a statement late Sunday saying the captain, Francesco Schettino, "made errors of judgment that had very grave consequences."
Authorities were holding Schettino for suspected manslaughter and a prosecutor confirmed Sunday they were also investigating allegations the captain abandoned the stricken liner before all the passengers had escaped. According to the Italian navigation code, a captain who abandons a ship in danger can face up to 12 years in prison.
A French couple who boarded the Concordia in Marseille, Ophelie Gondelle and David Du Pays, told the Associated Press they saw the captain in a lifeboat, covered by a blanket, well before all the passengers were off the ship.
"The commander left before and was on the dock before everyone was off," said Gondelle, 28, a French military officer.
"Normally the commander should only leave at the end," said Du Pays, a police officer who said he helped an injured passenger to a rescue boat. "I did what I could."
Coast Guard officers later spotted Schettino on land as the evacuation unfolded. The officers urged him to return to his ship and honor his duty to stay aboard until everyone was safely off the vessel, but he ignored them, Coast Guard Cmdr. Francesco Paolillo said.
Schettino insisted he didn't leave the liner early, telling Mediaset television that he had done everything he could to save lives. "We were the last ones to leave the ship," he said.

h/t:   Ace of Spades HQ 


Daily Mail (Online) reports that Captain Schettino may have been drinking alcohol prior to collision. Crew barged past passengers to get on life boats.  Reporting he is the most hated man in Italy today.  


Good interactive map at USA Today
Video of Passengers During Evacuation