At least three people are dead after a cruise ship with more than 4,000 people on board ran aground and keeled over off an Italian island, sparking chaos as passengers scrambled to get off.

The Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it apparently hit a reef near the Isola del Giglio on Friday (local time) as passengers were sitting down for dinner.

Most of the 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members have been evacuated, mostly in lifeboats and helicopters.

Some passengers jumped into the icy waters to try and escape the ship. At least four people are missing.

"There were scenes of panic like on the Titanic. We ran aground rocks near the Isola del Giglio. I don't know how this could happen. The captain is crazy," Mara Parmegiani, a passenger, was quoted by Italian media as saying.

"We were very scared and freezing because it happened while we were at dinner so everyone was in evening wear.

"We definitely didn't have time to get anything else. They gave us blankets but there weren't enough."

Luciano Castro, another passenger, was quoted as saying: "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."

Local prefect Giuseppe Linardi says the toll is at least three dead and 14 injured.

Earlier reports suggested six people had been killed, but Mr Linardi said difficulties in mounting the rescue led to confusion over the death toll.

He says rescuers are using divers to check the part of the ship that is under water to see if there are any more passengers inside.

Helicopters with search lights assisted the night-time rescue operation.

Sources say the ship was rammed into a pier in an attempt to stop it taking on more water, but has now keeled over.

Shocked passengers crammed into the island's few hotel rooms and a local church overnight. Hundreds are being transferred by ferry to the Tuscan resort town of Porto Santo Stefano, which is linked to the Italian mainland.

A screen grab taken from a Giglio harbor webcam shows the Costa Concordia lying on its side. ( http://www.giglionews.it )

Francesco Paolillo, a local coast guard official, said there was a 30-metre hole in the ship but that it was too early to say what exactly had happened.

"We think this happened as a result of sailing too close to an obstacle like a reef," he said.

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 sea, reports said.

Passengers were initially told the ship had shuddered to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets and head for lifeboats, a passenger from the boat told ANSA news agency by telephone.

Some passengers jumped into the sea in their hurry to get off the sinking ship.

"We are waiting to ride on the lifeboat, but it's not possible because the ship is tilting. Suddenly the ship starts to sink on that side. So we jumped into the sea," one of the ship's cabin stewards, Deodato Ordona, told the BBC.

"Then we just swim and then luckily there's an island near us. We just swim there, and luckily we survive there."

After the incident the ship was rammed into a pier in an attempt to stop it taking on more water ( Twitpic: cruiseshipcrew )

Makeshift shelter

Evacuated passengers are being taken to the tiny island of Giglio and put up in schools, homes and churches for the night

"We are trying to accommodate them anywhere we can - in schools, nurseries, hotels, anywhere that has a roof," said mayor Sergio Ortelli.

The Costa Crociera company, which owns the vessel, said it was "shocked" by the news and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.

The company said it was not yet possible to say what caused the problem, but that the evacuation had been fast, although made more difficult as the ship took on more and more water and keeled over.

"The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said.

"There were around 1,000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 160 French people," it added, without giving details about the rest.

The cruise ship - which boasts 58 suites with balconies, five restaurants, 13 bars, five jacuzzis and four swimming pools - had set off from the Civitavecchia port near Rome earlier on Friday (local time) when it ran into difficulties.

Boats from the nearby port helped evacuate the passengers and crew.

Evacuated passengers mass on dry land ( Twitpic: cruiseshipcrew )

AFP/BBC