ROME,Jan 16: One Indian is
missing in a luxury cruiser drowning incident off the Tuscan coast in
Italy while 201 crew members from the country have been rescued, officials said here on Monday. As efforts were on to trace the missing Indian, the Indian government set up control rooms both in New Delhi as well as here to facilitate information about the rescue.
Indian embassy officials here said while one Indian named
Robello Russel Terence, who was a waitor on the ill-fated
Costa Concordia, was yet to be traced and efforts were on to verify other details about him, no
casualty among the Indians has been reported so far. The incident, which happened on Saturday, left six persons dead. The ship hit a reef or rock near the Tuscan island of Giglio, before it went down. Spokesman of the Indian embassy here, Visvesh Negi, told PTI that "there were a total of 203 Indians on the ship - one passenger and 202 crew members". In Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said it has set up control rooms to deal with enquiries about the Indians on board the ship. "Out of the 202 crew members, 201 have been traced and are safe. One person is missing. We are co-ordinating with the Italian Government and trying to trace the missing crew," Negi said.
Indian Ambassador to Italy, Debabatra Saha, along with two Indian officials, visited the accident spot and is coordinating the rescue operation. External Affairs Minister S M Krishna had ordered immediate action to help the Indians onboard the ship, and had also asked Saha to reach the spot. Krishna told his officials that there is no need for any papers,
proof or documentation as the safety of Indians was the first option.
