More rescued after cruise liner disaster.. in Italy

The number of people still missing from the Italian cruise ship disaster has gone down to 17, Tuscan regional president Enrico Rossi has said.

"Checks and cross-checks have allowed us to reduce the number of missing people," Rossi told AFP news agency on Sunday two days after the cruise ship crashed into rocks off of Tuscany's Giglio Island.

"At the last meeting I was told that 11 passengers and six crew members remain unaccounted for."

One more survivor has been found aboard the overturned Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy, reports say.

Luca Cari, a spokesman for the fire department, said on Sunday that rescuers had spoken to the person inside the ship but the survivor had not yet been removed.

This comes as rescue crews managed to evacuate to safety two other survivors during a night-time operation on Saturday.

The survivors, a South Korean couple who were on their honeymoon, were discovered on the ship's lower deck.

The captain of the ship, Francesco Schettino, has meanwhile been detained on suspicion of manslaughter after at least three people were found dead as a result of the accident on Friday when the ship hit an obstacle and tipped over.

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

Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. Schettino had reportedly left the stricken cruise liner "well before" the last passengers were evacuated, the prosecutor in charge of investigating the disaster told the news channel SkyTG24 on Sunday.

"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

Al Jazeera