'Six dead' as cruise ship runs aground off Italy

At least six people are reported dead after a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground off Italy.

The Costa Concordia hit a sandbar on Friday evening near the island of Giglio and listed about 20 degrees, after which people tried to reach land in lifeboats or by swimming.

The continuing rescue operation is being hampered by what the ship's owners call a "worsening situation".

The coast guard says the last 50 people are being evacuated by helicopter.

There were 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew on board the vessel.

One thousand passengers were Italian, with 500 Germans, 160 French and the rest from other nationalities.

The Costa Concordia had sailed earlier on Friday from Civitavecchia port near Rome for a Mediterranean cruise, due to dock in Marseilles after ports in Sicily, Sardinia and Spain.

'Groaning noise'

Passengers were eating dinner on Friday evening, when they heard a loud bang, and were told that the ship had suffered electrical problems, one passenger told Italy's Ansa news agency.

"We were having supper when the lights suddenly went out, we heard a boom and a groaning noise, and all the cutlery fell on the floor," said Luciano Castro.

The 290-metre (950 ft) vessel ran aground, starting taking in water and listing by 20 degrees, the local coast guard said.

Orders were given to abandon ship, Deodato Ordona, a cabin steward on the Costa Concordia, told the BBC.

"We announced a general emergency and took passengers to muster stations," he said.

"But it is hard to launch the lifeboats, so they moved to the right side of the ship, and they could launch."

Elderly passengers were crying, said Mr Ordona, adding that he and some others jumped into the sea and swam roughly 400 metres to reach land.

Costa Crociera, the company which owns the ship, said it could not yet say what had caused the accident.

It added that "the position of the ship, which is worsening, is making more difficult the last part of the evacuation''.

- BBC