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A senior crew member on the luxury Italian cruise liner that capsized in the Mediterranean was dramatically airlifted to safety today as it emerged divers have discovered two more bodies.
Cabin service director Manrico Giampedroni, 57, was discovered in one of the Costa Concordia's restaurants which was semi-submerged with water. Italian news reports say he stayed behind to help passengers into the lifeboats but as the vessel listed he fell and broke his leg.
He said of the two day long ordeal: 'I never lost hope of being saved. It was a 36-hour nightmare'.
This afternoon the Italian coastguard said the bodies of two elderly men were found in a submerged restaurant, taking the death toll to five. Two French passengers and a Peruvian crew member were confirmed dead yesterday.
Late last night two 29-year-old newlyweds were plucked alive from the wreckage. The couple from South Korea had been on their honeymoon when they became stranded two decks below rescuers who eventually heard their screams.
More than 4,000 people were evacuated when the ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on Friday night. Eleven passengers and six crew are still missing.
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Manrico Giampetroni is 57 and is the cabin service director. He was trapped for over 24 hours
Mr Giampetroni is strapped to a rescue worker and airlifted from the ship
Mr Giampetroni is hoisted into the helicopter. He has a suspected broken leg
Rescue: The Costa Concordia is pictured this morning as rescuers in a boat co-ordinate the rescue effort during the desperate hunt for more survivors
Safe: 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 winched to safety and has a suspected broken leg
The newlyweds, who are not thought to be injured, told firefighters they had not seen or heard any other survivors during the 24 hours they were trapped.
All 23 British passengers and 12 crew have been reported safe and well.
Meanwhile, the Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, and first officer Ciro Ambrosio were detained last night at the police station in Porto Santo Stefano on the Italian mainland, as they faced continuing questioning about the events leading up to the disaster. Prosecutors are investigating possible charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning the ship while passengers were still in danger.
More...
'Forget women and children first, it was every man for himself': Cruise liner survivors describe nightmare scenes as people fought to escape sinking ship
'I saw captain drinking in the bar': Passengers accuse arrested officer of socialising before cruise crash and being among first to abandon ship
'Everything I have is in that ship... I will never go on a boat again': American on holiday with her mum tells of desperate attempt to flee sinking cruise liner
Prosecutor Francesco Verusio said the Concordia had approached the tiny island of Giglio ‘the wrong way’, while sources said that the 52-year-old captain, from Naples, had abandoned the ship at around 11.30pm local time – about an hour after it struck a rocky outcrop and started taking in water – while the last passengers were not taken to safety until 3am yesterday morning.
As the liner lay virtually flat on its starboard side last night, a 160ft gash visible on its upturned hull, rescue workers raised the possibility that there may still be bodies in the submerged section.
Fire services spokesman Luca Cari said specialist diving teams would ‘check all the interior spaces of the ship’ and added: ‘We don’t rule out the possibility that more people will be lost.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-20...l#ixzz1jc2CAye1.
