Meli ilivyozama Italia, wanafutwa walio hai na wafu

Brave rescue crews who have been frantically scouring the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship for survivors today confirmed a seventh person has been found dead.

After officials said last night that there are 29 people still missing the death toll is expected to rise still further.

This morning Italian officials said the latest victim had been found dead inside
the shipwrecked vessel.

The partially-sunken liner slipped further into the sea during high winds yesterday and is now lying on its side in about 45ft of water.

There are fears that the precariously-perched vessel could break completely free from its rocky ledge at any moment and plummet hundreds of feet to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

There are also concerns that, if the vessel shifts even slightly, it could puncture its fuel tanks.

Coastguard official Marco Brusco said on Italian TV last night that 25 passengers and four crew members are unaccounted for three days after the ship crashed into a reef off the Tuscan coast and capsized.Earlier reports said just 16 people were missing.

Mr Brusco did not explain the reason for the rise, but at least three Italian families have said that even though their loved ones have been listed among those safely evacuated, they hadn't heard any word from their relatives.

Mr Brusco also indicated about ten Germans were among the 29 missing. He said he held a 'glimmer of hope' that some of the missing might have survived.

Despite the threat of imminent catastrophe, rescue workers resumed their search for the 29 passengers still unaccounted for, trawling through the ship's maze of corridors and cabins, although the search was suspended at nightfall.

The emergency services confirmed that all the areas of the liner that are above water had now been searched, indicating faint hopes of finding more survivors.

A five-year-old Italian girl and her father are believed to be among the passengers still missing after the vessel grounded.

William Arlotti, 34, and his daughter Dyana, from Rimini, are among 16 still unaccounted for after the luxury cruise ship ran aground off the island of Giglio and then partially sank on Friday night, Italian media reports.

'In the evening her father picked her up. It is not the first time she has gone with her father on a cruise. I heard there were problems on the ship on Saturday morning from his parents. Meanwhile, I continue to call everyone and no one can tell me anything about my daughter.'

Mr Arlotti's cousin, Sabrina Ottaviani, posted an appeal on Facebook which said:

'My cousin and little niece are still missing. They slid into the water in a corridor between muster point A and B.

'Someone told his girlfriend that they were pulled up by rope but there is no trace of them... if someone truly saw them on the rope please let me know.'

'Someone told his girlfriend that they were pulled up by rope but there is no trace of them... if someone truly saw them on the rope please let me know.'

Miss Albertini's mother, Alberta Sartini, added: 'We are waiting for news, we are on tenterhooks.

My daughter had trusted to give the child to her former husband and the child was happy to go on a cruise with him. I hope with all my heart they come back.'

The sixth victim was a man, found in a corridor in the part of the ship that was still above water, who was still wearing his orange lifejacket.

Others confirmed dead include two men, 86-year-old Italian Giovanni Masia and Spaniard Guillermo Gual, 68, discovered at an emergency gathering point near the restaurant.

And Pervuian tourism student Peruvian Erika Soria, 26, who was working on the ship, is also missing.

Her father Saturnino told Pervuian TV: 'My concern is that the authorities intensify their search and find my daughter wherever she is.

'She has to be found, dead or alive. The pain of not knowing what’s happened to her is killing us. I haven’t given up hope of seeing her alive again.'

Rising turbulence this morning led to concerns that the ship - which has on board some 2,500 tons of fuel - could become unstable, creating the threat of a possible environmental disaster on top of the human loss.

No leaks into the pristine waters have been reported so far, and a Dutch firm has been called in to help extract the fuel.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini said: 'The environmental risk for the island of Giglio is extremely high. The goal is to avoid that the fuel leaks from the ship. We are working on this. The intervention is urgent.'

The last people to be discovered alive were found on Sunday. A young honeymooning South Korean couple, both aged 29, were plucked alive from the wreckage.

Jeong Hye Jim and his wife Kideok Hanmarito became stranded two decks below rescuers who eventually heard their screams.

And the ship's cabin service director, 57-year-old Manrico Giampetroni, was discovered in an air pocket in a flooded restaurant two days after the incident. He was trapped after breaking his leg, and was dramatically winched to safety.

Confirmation of the seventh death comes as investigators look into reports that the ship's captain might have been 'showing off' when he steered the vessel too close to rocks.

Captain Francesco Schettino's behaviour is said to be under close scrutiny as he faces accusations he abandoned the vessel before ensuring all of the 4,200 people aboard were safely evacuated.
It is thought that Capt Schettino sailed as close to land as he did as he wanted to salute to a friend on shore.

The display was said to be in a 'salute of respect' for a former Costa cruises commander Mario Palombo who retired in 2006 due to ill health and whose family were originally from Giglio.

As British survivors spoke of the 'screaming and crying' as they tried to get off the stricken vessel, the ship's owner Costa Crociere said 'preliminary indications' suggested Capt Schettino may have been guilty of 'significant human error'.

The ship's Italian owner, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise lines, issued a statement late Sunday saying there appeared to be 'significant human error' on the part of the captain, Francesco Schettino, 'which resulted in these grave consequences'.

It said in a statement: 'The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and the captain's judgment in handling the emergency appears to have not followed standard Costa procedures.'

Carnival PLC, the owner of the capsized boat, saw its share price plummet by around a fifth.Carnival CEO Micky Arison said in a statement: 'At this time, our priority is the safety of our passengers and crew.

'We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and our hearts go out to everyone affected by the
grounding of the Costa Concordia and especially to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives.'

Authorities were holding Schettino for suspected manslaughter and a prosecutor confirmed yesterday 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.

Schettino insisted he did not leave the liner early, telling Mediaset television that he had done
everything he could to save lives.

He said: 'We were the last ones to leave the ship.'

Questions also swirled about why the ship had navigated so close to the dangerous reefs and rocks that jut off Giglio's eastern coast, amid suspicions the captain may have ventured too close while carrying out a manoeuvre to entertain tourists on the island.

Residents of Giglio said they had never seen the Costa come so close to the dangerous 'Le Scole' reef area.

'This was too close, too close,' said Italo Arienti, a 54-year-old sailor who has worked on the
Maregiglio ferry between Giglio and the mainland for more than a decade.