Chinese tourists on Italy ship safe

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All Chinese tourists on board the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia have been accounted for and are receiving help, Rome embassy officials told China Daily on Sunday. The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong also confirmed that all the Chinese passengers were safe.

The luxury cruise liner ran aground on Friday night just off the Italian coast. So close was the ship to land that many passengers were able to swim to safety. Three people were confirmed to have been killed in the accident but about 40 remain unaccounted for.

The 22 Chinese tourists were from Hong Kong and all were accounted for and none had suffered serious injuries, embassy officials said.

Searching the crippled liner is a task akin to searching a small town - but one tilted on its side, and largely in darkness and submerged in freezing water. Scores of divers were taking part.

The captain of the luxury 114,500-ton ship, Francesco Schettino, was under arrest and facing charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, Italian police said.

Passengers, comparing the disaster to the movie Titanic, told of people leaping into the sea and fighting over lifejackets in panic when the ship hit a rock and ran aground near the islandof Giglio, late on Friday.

Two French tourists and a Peruvian member of crew were dead and about 40 people were missing.

The vast hulk of the 290-meter-long cruise ship, resting half-submerged on its side, loomed over the little port of Giglio, a picturesque island in a maritime nature reserve off the Tuscan coast. A large gash was visible on its side.

Rescue workers including specialist diving teams were working their way through more than 2,000 cabins on the ship, a floating resort that boasted a huge spa, seven restaurants, bars, cinemas and discotheques.

As the search continued, there were demands for explanations of why the vessel had come so close to the shore and bitter complaints about how long it took to evacuate the terrified passengers.

Magistrates said Schettino, whose ship was carrying 4,229 passengers and crew, abandoned the vessel before all the passengers were taken off.

The vessel's operator said the Costa Concordia had been sailing on its regular course when it struck a submerged rock.

In a television interview, Schettino said the rock was not marked on any maritime charts of thearea.

The ship was involved in an accident on Nov 22, 2008 when it hit a port wall and was damaged while docking.

Local officials expressed concern that the fuel on the ship, at full load as it had just begun thecruise, could spill into the pristine waters. However, there was no sign of any pollution damage on Sunday.

Questions:

1. How many Chinese passengers were on board the cruise?

2. What was the name of the island that the cruise hit a rock near?

3. What is the name of the captain of the cruise?

Answers:

1. 22

2. Giglio

3. Schettino

（中国日报网英语点津 Rosy 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Emily Cheng is an editor at China Daily. She was born in Sydney, Australia and graduated from the University of Sydney with a degree in Media, English Literature and Politics. She has worked in the media industry since starting university and this is the third time she has settled abroad - she interned with a magazine in Hong Kong 2007 and studied at the University of Leeds in 2009.