HOPE

Search Resumes in Costa Concordia Shipwreck

‘We need a miracle,’ says Coast Guard.

The Italian Navy once again blasted holes Saturday in the side of the wrecked Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that crashed off the rocks of the Italian island of Giglio one week ago. “We will continue searching until all hope is gone,” said Coast Guard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro, although he admitted that “we need a miracle.” As many as 24 people are still missing, and some have held out hope that a person could survive for days in the luxury cruise liner’s cabins. A forecast for high waves in the Mediterranean has caused many to worry that the submerged 114,500-ton ship could sink or be swept out, but port officials said the search would continue while the water remained calm during the day. Experts say the ship is slipping off the rocky sea shelf at a rate of around a quarter of an inch every hour.