Three dead, 40 missing in Italian ship disaster

Italian rescue workers were searching for about 40 people still missing early on Sunday, more than a day after a cruise ship with more than 4,000 on board capsized off Italy's west coast, killing at least three people and injuring 70.   

The captain of the luxury 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia was held in jail accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, Italian police said.   

Passengers, some saying it felt like a rerun of the Titanic disaster, told of people leaping into the sea and fighting over lifejackets in panic when the ship hit a rock and ran aground near the island of Giglio, late on Friday.   

Early on Sunday, firefighters found two people, both South Koreans, still alive in a cabin after making voice contact with them from several decks above.   

A coast guard official said they had told investigators they had seen no sign of anyone else aboard although rescuers believed that more people may be found as the search went on.   

An official involved in the rescue operation said two French tourists and a Peruvian crew member were dead. One coast guard official said 39 people were now unaccounted for.     

Reuters