Captain charged in Greece cruise ship disaster
April 7, 2007
Greece - The captain and five other senior crew members of a Greek-flagged cruise ship which ran aground and sank off an island in the Aegean Sea Thursday have been charged with negligence and violating international martime rules.
Two French passengers were missing Saturday and the official said charges against the captain and crew could be upgraded if they are declared dead. The Cyprus-owned Sea Diamond carried 1,153 passengers -- including 731 Americans -- and 391 crew when it ran aground on a rocky reef while trying to dock at harbor of the holiday island of Santorini.
The prosecution official said the captain admitted in an interview that he tried to free the ship from the reef before evacuating the passengers as required by international rules. The ship's hull was ripped open by the effort to move off the rocks, causing it to sink in Santorini's volcanic lagoon 18 hours later.
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