Emergency teams have been called into action to rescue passengers missing after their cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, ran aground off the coast of Italy, near the island of Giglio.
The ship carried approximately 4,000 people, three of whom are now confirmed dead and many (nearly 70) are currently missing. Some of those who are missing may, however, have swum to shore and have not been accounted for yet.
The Costa Concordia sailed from Civitavecchia near Rome on Friday morning. It apparently hit the rocks off Giglio late the first evening of the cruise.
According to current media reports, the ship’s evacuation drill was not scheduled until Saturday afternoon, so passengers were uninformed as to how best to evacuate. Some jumped into the sea after the life boats were delayed.
Daniel Durazo says
Access America travel insurance is very busy assisting and attempting to locate its customers who were on board the Costa Concordia at the time of the accident.
Access America believes that at least 9 customers were scheduled to be on the cruise. As of Monday morning, the company has confirmed three customers are safe.
Access America is also assisting travel agency partners in finding and helping their customers, regardless of whether they had purchased travel insurance. So far the company has arranged for transportation and lost passport assistance for one such traveler.
Access America’s travel assistance department is working around the clock to locate other customers and provide assistance if needed.
Access America customers who were traveling on the Costa Concordia and need assistance should call us collect at 804-281-5700 and ask to speak with our travel assistance department. We are available to help 24/7/365.