Evidence mounts against cruise ship captain

Maritime authorities, passengers and mounting evidence pointed toward the captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast, amid accusations that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated and was showing off when he steered the vessel far too close to shore.

The Costa Crociera company, which owns the Costa Concordia cruise ship, released a statement refuting the earlier claims by Captain Francisco Schettino, saying that the captain had "made an error of judgment which has had serious consequences."

"The route followed by the ship was too close to the coast and it seems decisions in emergency management have not followed procedures in line with those followed by Costa Crociere which in some cases go beyond international standards," said the statement, released late on Sunday.

Authorities were holding Schettino for suspected manslaughter and a prosecutor confirmed on 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, said 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.

Schettino is sticking to his claim that the rocks which sank the vessel were not marked on the nautical charts.

"I firmly believe that the rocks were not detected as the ship was not heading forward, but sideways," he said in an interview. "I don't know if it was detected or not, but on the nautical chart it was marked just as water, at some 100, to 150 meters from the rocks, and we were about 300 meters from the shore."

More bodies found

The coast guard said on Sunday that the bodies of the two elderly people were found in the submerged restaurant of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.

Al Jazeera's Paul Brennan, reporting from Isola Del Giglio, said the rescue operations were ongoing.

“Sometime this afternoon, two additional bodies - above the three we already knew had died - were found. Frankly, there are still more people that are likely to be inside [the ship].

“The mayor of this town, at lunch time today, said 17 people remained unaccounted for: six crew and 11 passengers. The two bodies that have been found this afternoon will most likely reduce that 17 to just 15 unaccounted for. It is not a good day from the rescuers point of view."

Rescue crews managed to evacuate to safety one passenger during the day on Sunday and two other survivors during a night-time operation on Saturday.

Most of the 3,216 passengers and 1,013 crew members have been evacuated to safety. Dozens were also injured in the accident, at least two of them seriously.

Police divers and rescue crews continue to circle the wreckage in an apparent search for other survivors.

'Formidable' sight

"At around 8:00pm (19:00 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 on Saturday.

The vessel was taking in water through a 50m hole in its hull on Saturday, and the condition of the vessel appeared to be worsening.

Helicopters were used to help rescuers, and passengers were transferred to the mainland at Porto Santo Stefano.

Italian authorities said they were trying to find room to accommodate the rescued passengers, including pregnant women and children.

Two French tourists and Peruvian crew member were confirmed to be dead. Authorities fear the casualty figure could rise beyond that.

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.

The 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it "hit an obstacle" near the island of Giglio off the coast of Tuscany.