Five bodies found as rescue divers use explosives to blow holes in hull: Four men and one woman in their 50s and 60s discovered



Five passengers found at the front of the ship below the waterline

Four men and one woman in their 50s and 60s discovered



Known death toll now stands at 11

Italian divers today set off explosives to gain easier access inside




The bodies of five more passengers have been found in the wreckage of the Costa Concordia taking the confirmed death toll to 11.

Four men and one woman, in their 50s and 60s, were discovered together at the front of the cruise liner below the waterline. It comes after Italian navy divers set off explosives to create openings in the hull of the ship that ran aground near a Tuscan island on Friday.



Navy spokesman Alessandro Busonero said micro-charges placed on the side of the ship created four openings to allow divers 'to enter easily for the search'.



Extensive debris and the 'sideways' nature of the ship has hampered rescuers from getting into sections of the stricken vessel. The holes were made both above and below the water level. Television footage showed them to be less than 6ft in diameter.



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Discovery: A scuba diver is pictured dragging a body out from the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia as the confirmed death toll rises to 11 Blasting through: The bright flash of an explosion shows where Italian navy divers have used 'micro-charges' to force their way through the hull of the capsized Costa Concordia - in a bid to find missing passengers and crew

Peeling the hull away: Rescuers use an inflatable raft to get to the blast points and continue their search for survivors. Debris and the 'sideways' nature of the ship have hampered rescue efforts

Frantic effort: A plume from another of the four explosions is seen rising from the Costa Concordia. Divers have blown holes in the ship above and below the water line so that they can get to previously inaccessible sections

Mr Busonero said the rescuers were racing against time. The tragedy has turned into a potential environmental crisis as rough seas battering the stricken ship raised fears that fuel might leak into the pristine waters around Giglio island.



The Italian operator of the Costa Concordia has accused the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, who is in custody, of causing the accident, saying he made an 'unapproved, unauthorised manoeuvre' to divert the vessel from its programmed course.



Earlier, authorities had said 16 people were missing. But Italian coastguard official Marco Brusco said last night that 25 passengers and four crew members were still unaccounted for four days after the ship struck a reef and capsized.



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 said about ten Germans and two Americans were among the 29 missing.



He said there was still 'a glimmer of hope' that there could be survivors on parts of the vast liner that have yet to be searched.

The last survivor, a crewman who had broken his leg, was rescued on Sunday.

Difficult conditions: A stairwell disappearing into the ship shows how divers have had to navigate a world turned on it side, while smashed windows to the left of the picture is evidence of previous search attempts

Confusing mess: Tangled cables and lifeboats lowered on top of each other show the chaotic nature of the evacuation

Suspended: Rescue divers stopped searching for missing people yesterday, for a period, after the Costa Concordia started to slip into the sea

The name of another missing person has also been revealed - 30-year-old honeymooner Maria D'Introno, of Biella near Turin, who had been on the ship with husband Vincenzo Rosselli and other family members to celebrate their marriage.



All apart from Maria reached the safety of the shore by jumping into the water and swimming to a nearby headland while wearing life jackets.

Vincenzo said: 'The main thing on my mind as we were swimming towards the shore was for my 74-year-old father who has a problem with his hip. We all had life jackets but Maria couldn't swim and she was scared of the water.'

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.



Wrecked: This photograph of scattered furniture in a dining room deep inside the vessel shows how difficult the search effort is

Mess: The level of destruction and damage inside the Costa Concordia can be seen here as an Italian coastguard diver searches for missing passengers

Underwater world: All areas of the liner that are above water have now been searched, indicating faint hopes of finding more survivors

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.

COSTA CONCORDIA'S VICTIMS:

Missing - 29 William Arlotti, 34, and daughter Dyana, 5, - from Rimini, Italy

Honeymooner Maria D'Introno, 30, of Biella near Turin

Erika Soria - Peruvian crew member, 26

Russell Rebello - Indian crew member, 30

Jerry and Barbara Heil, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, U.S.

Frenchman Francis Servel, 71, who handed his wife Nicole, 61, his lifejacket * 14 Germans, 6 Italians, 4 French, 2 Americans, One each from India, Peru and Hungary



Dead - 6 Giovanni Masia - 86 - from Italy

Guillermo Gual - 68 - from Spain

Peruvian crew member Tomas Costilla Mendoza

Two, as yet unnamed, French passengers

Unidentified man found on Monday morning * These are only the people who have been named by Italian authorities.



The emergency services confirmed that all the areas of the liner that are above water had now been searched.

A five-year-old Italian girl Dyana Arlotti , and her father William, 34, from Rimini, are believed to be among those still missing.

Dyana's mother, Susy Albertini told Italian newspaper Voce di Romagna: 'I have made hundreds of phone calls to my ex-husband, but he does not respond.

'I called all the authorities, the Police Prefecture to the Marina di Grosseto, the fire department, but nobody can tell me anything about my daughter.



'The last time I saw Dyana was Thursday morning. I took her to kindergarten.



'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.'

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.'

Those confirmed dead include two French passengers and Peruvian crew member Tomas Costilla Mendoza. Two men, 86-year-old Italian Giovanni Masia and Spaniard Guillermo Gual, 68, were discovered at an emergency gathering point near the restaurant.

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

Detained: Captain Francseco Schettino, pictured here in 2010, will appear in a Grosseto court (right) where police officers have been standing guard



Grounded: The cruise ship was lit up by emergency vessels as darkness fell

Eerie sight: Rescue workers had to call off their search last night, abandoning the vessel until this morning



Ongoing search: Rescuers walk along the side of the stricken craft



Smashed: Divers inspect a broken window in a bid to find more survivors. The ship has started to slip into the sea from the rocky resting place it has been perched on

Two Americans on their 'holiday of a lifetime' are among those still unaccounted for. Gerald and Barbara Heil, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, were confirmed as missing by their daughter.

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.

Frantic: Rescue divers have had to suspend their search for missing people in and around the partially submerged Costa Concordia

Action: Firemen lower a stretcher down the upturned deck of the partially submerged Costa Concordia (left) as scuba divers continue searching this morning (right)



Still missing: Gerald and Barbara Heil (left picture), of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, scraped by as they raised their four children, but had finally saved enough to take a long-awaited trip to celebrate their retirement. The youngest passenger still missing is five-year-old Dyana Arlotti, (right picture, in burgundy top) pictured with her father, William

Missing: Tourism student Erika Soria, 26, pictured here on the Costa Concordia, is one of 16 people still unaccounted for

WIFE 'SAVED BY HUSBAND' WHO HANDED HER HIS LIFEJACKET

A survivor told how her husband saved her life before drowning - because there was 'nobody there' to save him.

Frenchwoman Nicole Servel, 61, said Francis Servel, 71, gave her his lifejacket before they leapt off the sinking cruise ship.

She said: 'I owe my life to my husband – it’s obvious he saved me.' She managed to swim for shore, while Mr Servel was swept underwater and drowned.

Speaking from her home near Toulouse, south west France, Mrs Servel said: 'He shouted 'jump, jump, jump. I can't swim so he gave me his life jacket.

'I froze and couldn’t jump, but he jumped off the ship and shouted upwards 'Come on, don't worry.

'I jumped off and the last thing I heard him say was that I would be fine. Then I never saw him again.

'The water was only eight degrees. When I was alone in the water I thought of my children, my grandchildren. The thought of them kept me afloat. It kept me living. I do not know how I did it.

'I swam for several minutes. I am unable to say exactly how long. And then I found myself on a rock. Villagers came to pick us up. They led us to a church. I was very cold, frozen. In the sacristy we found a cassock. I took it. It made me warm.'



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.'

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.

Wreck: The Costa Concordia pictured last night dangerously keeled over off the Giglio Island

Pointing to a nautical map, he drew his finger along the path the ship usually takes and the jarring one close to shore that it followed on Friday.



Costa captains have occasionally steered the ship near port and sounded the siren in a special salute, Arienti said.



Such a nautical 'fly-by' was staged last August, prompting the town's mayor to send a note of thanks to the commander for the treat it provided tourists who flock to the island, local news portal GiglioNews.it reported.



But Arienti and other residents said even on those occasions, the cruise ship always stayed far offshore, well beyond the reach of the 'Le Scole' reefs.



Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said divers had recovered the so-called 'black box', with the recording of the navigational details, from a compartment now under water, though no details were released.



All 35 Britons on board, including 12 crew, are safe.



Britons who were on board the stricken ship have now arrived back home and spoken about their ordeal. Mandy Rodford, 45, and her husband John, 46, from Rochester in Kent, were celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary on the vessel when it ran aground.

Searching: Italian coastguards continued the operation

The couple had only been on board the Mediterranean cruise ship for seven hours before disaster struck.



Mrs Rodford, who had been hesitant about going on the holiday because she does not like water, said: 'I just thought my life was gone. I just thought my life was over, getting in that water.

'I thought, if I don't die from the swimming part, I'm going to die from the shock of having to get in it.'



Speaking at London's Heathrow Airport, after flying back from Rome, Mr Rodford said they first thought something was wrong when they were eating their dinner.



He said he heard 'a crunch', then his drink started sliding along the table. The couple asked a crew member if there was a problem, but they were told: 'No, it's the engine.'

He added: 'Then the lights went out and came back on. And then it (the ship) started going the other way, and quite a lot the other way.



'All the plates were coming off the tables and smashing, and it was just like bedlam. Everyone was getting the life jackets, but they told us to stay. They said: 'It's all right, it's under control'.'



They described sliding down the corridors across the width of the ship to reach the starboard side, which was closest to the water.

