6 dead, 4 missing in Italian cruise ship accident

Six people died and four were missing on Saturday after a cruise ship with more than 4,000 people on board ran aground and keeled over off an Italian island, sparking chaos as passengers scrambled to get off.

The Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it apparently hit a reef near the Isola del Giglio on Friday as passengers were sitting down for dinner. Some passengers jumped into the icy waters.

"There were scenes of panic like on the Titanic. We ran aground rocks near the Isola del Giglio. I don't know how this could happen. The captain is crazy," Mara Parmegiani, a passenger, was quoted by Italian media as saying.

"We were very scared and freezing because it happened while we were at dinner so everyone was in evening wear. We definitely didn't have time to get anything else. They gave us blankets but there weren't enough," she said.

Local prefect Giuseppe Linardi said the toll was at least six dead and 13 injured and added that rescuers were using divers to check the part of the ship that is under water to see if there were any more passengers inside.

Helicopters with search lights assisted the nighttime rescue operation.

Shocked passengers crammed into the island's few hotel rooms and a local church overnight. Hundreds were being transferred by ferry to the Tuscan resort town of Porto Santo Stefano, which is linked to the Italian mainland.

Luciano Castro, another passenger, was quoted as saying: "We heard a loud noise while we were at dinner as if the keel of the ship hit something."

"The ship started taking in water through the hole and began tilting."

Francesco Paolillo, a local coast guard official, said there was a 30-metre hole in the ship but that it was too early to say what exactly had happened.

"We think this happened as a result of sailing too close to an obstacle like a reef," he 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 sea, reports said.

Passengers were initially told the ship had shuddered to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets and head for lifeboats, a passenger from the boat told ANSA news agency by telephone.

The local mayor said they were trying to find room to accommodate the rescued passengers, including pregnant women and children.

"We are trying to accommodate them anywhere we can, in schools, nurseries, hotels, anywhere that has a roof," said mayor Sergio Ortelli, who added that some passengers were even bedding down for the night in the church.

The Costa Crociera company, which owns the vessel, said it was "shocked" by the news and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.

The company said it was not yet possible to say what caused the problem, but that the evacuation had been fast, although made more difficult as the ship took on more and more water and keeled over.

"The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said.

"There were around 1,000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 160 French people," it added, without giving details about the rest.

The cruise ship -- which boasts 58 suites with balconies, five restaurants, 13 bars, five Jacuzzis and four swimming pools -- had set off from the Civitavecchia port near Rome earlier Friday when it ran into difficulties.

Boats from the nearby port helped evacuate the passengers and crew.