Divers explode holes in hull to speed search

AAA??Jan. 17, 2012?3:59 AM ET
Divers explode holes in hull to speed search
FRANCES D'EMILIOFRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press
NICOLE WINFIELDNICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press??

An oil removal ship near the cruise ship Costa Concordia, leaning on its side, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. The rescue operation was called off mid-afternoon Monday after the Costa Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas. The fear is that if the ship shifts significantly, some 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

An oil removal ship near the cruise ship Costa Concordia, leaning on its side, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. The rescue operation was called off mid-afternoon Monday after the Costa Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas. The fear is that if the ship shifts significantly, some 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side Monday, Jan.16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday. The rescue operation was called off mid-afternoon Monday after the Costa Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas. The fear is that if the ship shifts significantly, some 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

An Italian firefighters climbs on the cruise ship Costa Concordia Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, after it run aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. Italian rescue officials say a passenger's body has been found in the wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, raising to six the number of confirmed dead in the disaster. Sixteen people remain unaccounted-for. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Ships to avoid the leakage of fuel approach Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

A seagul flies Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, over the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

ROME (AP) ? Italian naval divers have set off explosives to create four small openings in the hull of a cruise ship that grounded near a Tuscan island to speed the search for 29 missing passengers and crew.

Navy spokesman Alessandro Busonero told Sky TV 24 the micro-charges set early Tuesday created four openings to allow divers "to enter easily for the search." The holes were made both above and below the water level.

Television footage showed the holes to be less than two meters (6 feet) in diameter.

Busonero said the rescuers were racing against time. The cruise liner tragedy has turned into a potential environmental crisis, as rough seas battering the stricken ship raised fears that fuel might leak into pristine waters.

Associated Press
People, Places and Companies: Italy

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-17-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-579eb53c36f346129568e2b553133d85

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