The captain of the Costa Concordia is responsible for the demise of the ship after he was negligent in choosing an alternate path for the ship over the one previously mapped out for him. According to Carnival, the owners of the Costa Concordia, the captain made a devastating mistake when he chose to go too close to land with the ship.

The ship hit a large area of rocks, creating a 160-foot hole in the side of the ship. The cruise liner filled up with water at an alarming rate and people began to panic. The evacuation drill had not been done yet and therefore people were unsure of how to proceed. There were people jumping off of decks and attempting to swim to shore and there were also people lunging for lifeboats.

Out of the 4,200 people aboard the ship, there were six casualties and currently 16 people are still missing. Rescue workers are doing all that they possibly can in order to locate additional survivors.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims’ families and friends during this tragic time.