Lawyer: Captain Of Wrecked Cruise Liner Placed Under House Arrest

Updated: January 17, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.

A lawyer tells the Associated Press the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner has been placed under house arrest.

Updated: January 17, 2012 at 10:37 a.m.

Rescue crews have located five more bodies in the wreck of the Costa
Concordia cruise ship, bringing to at least 11 the number of people killed
after it ran aground near the island of Giglio, Italy, on Friday, the Giglio mayor
said Tuesday.

Several people still are missing.

The Costa Concordia hit rocks Friday night just off Italy's western coast, leading to what passengers described as a chaotic and surreal scene as they rushed to evacuate.

There were roughly 4,200 people on the Costa Concordia when it ran aground
-- about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members.

Updated: January 16, 2012

 Italian coast guard officials say the number of people missing from the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has risen to 29.

A top coast guard official, Marco Brusco, said on state TV 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 in the day that number stood at 16.

Brusco didn't immediately explain 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.

Brusco indicated about 10 Germans were among the 29 missing. He says he holds a "glimmer of hope" that some of the missing might have survived.

Updated: January 16, 2012

The chief executive of the Italian owner of the cruise ship that capsized off Tuscany says the captain made an unauthorized, unapproved deviation from the ship's programmed course.

Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi said Monday that the company stood by the captain, Francesco Schettino, and would provide him with legal assistance. But he told reporters that the company, which is owned by the world's largest cruiseline, Carnival Corp., disassociated itself from his behavior.

He says Costa ships have their routes programmed, and alarms go off when they deviate.

He said: "This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa."

The Costa Concordia hit a reef during dinner Friday and capsized off Tuscany, forcing the evacuation of about 4,200 people.

Two South Koreans on their honeymoon are safe after rescuers found them early Sunday in the non-submerged part of a grounded cruise ship. 

Prato fire commander Vincenzo Bennardo told The Associated Press that rescuers who had been banging on doors of the ship cabins all night finally heard a reply from one of the rooms early Sunday. He said the two, about 29 years old, were in good condition. He said the rescuers never stopped going door-to-door during the night in the non-submerged part of the ship.

The Costa Concordia hit a reef during dinner Friday and capsized off Tuscany, forcing the evacuation of about 4,200 people. Three bodies were found and about 40 more remained unaccounted for.