Pretoria - About eight South Africans are recovering at a hotel in Italy after what began as a luxury cruise holiday turned into a nightmare.
The eight were onboard the Costa Concordia, the 290-meter-long cruise vessel, together with more than 4 200 people from about 60 countries, when the ship hit a reef which tore a 70m crack in its hull.
The incident occurred shortly after leaving the Civitavecchia port near Rome as the ship was starting a seven-day Mediterranean cruise.
The ship reportedly tilted 80 degrees to one side, leaving it half submerged in shallow waters near the Giglio Island, a resort 25km off the country's western coast.
Some 40 people are reportedly being treated in hospitals, and emergency teams are still searching for some missing people in the waters, while three are believed to be dead.
The Department of International Relations and Co-operation says their mission in Italy is monitoring the situation and looking after the South African survivors.
The captain of the ship has been taken into custody. He has denied any wrongdoing, although the owner says the accident was a result of human error.
The captain has claimed "the rock the ship impacted with was not marked in the nautical chart".
