When an evacuation warning sounded, most passengers didn’t know what the sound signified. Prosecutors are still sorting through the mess of details of what went wrong to crash into the massive rock.

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Initial news reports claimed that Ciro Ambrosio and Francesco Schettino didn’t go off course, but that simply failed to follow the designated route through the shallow Giglio harbor. Other news reports this weekend claimed that the ship was as far as four miles off course, and that when ship changed route, it suddenly steered into the massive rock.

Francesco Verusio, chief prosecutor in the Tuscan city of Grosseto, says initial investigations indicate “The ship struck a reef that got stuck inside the left side, making it (the ship) lean over and take on a lot of water in the space of two, three minutes”.

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Ciro Ambrosio and Francesco Schettino, however, claim they hit the massive rock because the “nautical charts had marked it was water.” They add “We were navigating approximately 300 metres from the rocks. There shouldn’t have been such a rock.”

When pressed by news if he abandoned ship, Schettino denied the accusations stating “we were the last ones to leave the ship.” A captain who abandons ship, if found guilty, faces twelve years in prison.

The cruise operator, Costa Cruises, has yet to determine if their captain abandoned ship. “Captain [Francesco] Schettino, who was on the bridge at the time, immediately understood the severity of the situation and performed a maneuver intended to protect both guests and crew, and initiated security procedures to prepare for an eventual ship evacuation. Unfortunately, that operation was complicated by a sudden tilting of the ship that made disembarkation difficult.”

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Prosecutors disagree. They tell news that the captain approached Giglio Island so poorly that the “ship took a rock that got stuck on the left side, making it lean so much water on board and within two, three minutes.”

The Captain’s family tells news “Franco is a fussy person, a great commander, and what he said is the truth.”

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While passengers and locals are calling Schettino incompetent, his family is defending him in Saturday news interviews. “Franco is a fussy person, a great commander, and what he said is the truth. He loves the sea, has always worked as a commander, has a long career behind him.”

But when questioned by news, local fisherman claim that Francesco Schettino should have known that the waters off the island of Giglio were filled with rocky sandbars. Francesco Verusio has yet to tell news how he will prosecute Francesco Schettino.

But witnesses claim that Schettino was allegedly inept in steering the boat through the rocky sandbar. Then, after the error occurred, Schettino is accused of failing to tell passengers of the deadly crash. At 8 pm during dinner time, passengers were informed merely that an electrical problem had erupted. But after a large thump, passengers looked outside and observed that the boat had a large void and was collecting water.

The captain is accused of failing to inform not just passengers but also local authorities about the trouble. “They didn’t send a mayday. The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing” said Officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno.

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The trouble didn’t end there. Francesco Schettino is accused of abandoning ship and failing to take hours to evacuate passengers. Life boats were not ready. The death toll is being blamed, not just on the accident, but also the failure to take hours to evacuate the passengers properly.

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“At the time of collision with a rock, the commander of the Costa Concordia was on the bridge,” said the director general of Costa Crociere President Gianni Onorato in a news briefing today. “It is incorrect to say that the ship was off course” said another official.

“Fear and panic are comprehensible in a ship long over 300 meters with over 4,000 passengers,” Del Santo said. “We can confirm that the ship has a breach on the hull of about 90 meters, and that the right side of it is completely under water.”

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The Costa Concordia captain poorly coordinated evacuations after the accident, witnesses claim. Hundred of people reportedly jumped into the water after rescue boats took hours to deploy. Moreover, Francesco Schettino is accused by passengers of poorly advising them that of the boat’s fatal condition.  He claimed only a mere electrical problem had occurred. Instead, the boat had hit something, causes a massive void. Quickly the boat begin to fill with water on one side and began to sink.

Officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno reports to news that rescue efforts continued around the clock. But prosecutors in Grosetto, Italy are also watching Francesco Schettino. Today, they arrested him. The nature of his charge(s) have not been released to news.

Officials have yet to indicate if they will also seek indictments against any other employees. The boat’s owner is Costa Cruises of Genoa.

In a news statement today, Del Santo said the boat poorly handled the evacuation. “At the moment we can’t exclude that the ship had some kind of technical problem, and for this reason moved towards the coast in order to save the passengers, the crew and the ship. But they didn’t send a mayday. The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing”.

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It could take days until officials confirm the death toll. But with nearly fifty to seventy-five persons missing, the death toll could still rise. Only three people are confirmed dead currently.

Witnesses claim the cause of the accident wasn’t an electrical fault but the captain steering into a rocky sandbar. Giglio fisherman tell news that there was no such electrical fault, rather a submerged rock which the boat drove into.

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Gianni Onorato, president of Costa Cruises, denounced the electrical story. In news statement, he said “On the basis of the initial evidence — still preliminary — Costa Concordia, under the command of Master Francesco Schettino, was sailing its regularly scheduled itinerary from Civitavecchia to Savona, Italy, when the ship struck a submerged rock”.

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The boat was less than five years old. It was set to go on a seven day Mediterranean cruise. But witnesses are disturbed that the captain had simply no idea of the water conditions he was steering through. “It is a tragedy that deeply affects our company. Our first thoughts go to the victims and we would like to express our condolences and our closeness to their families and friends,” Costa told news today.

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Francesco Paolillo, the coastguard spokesman, confirms that search efforts have continue uninterrupted. After the accident, several passengers jumped into the water. Paolillo said that three bodies of deceased passengers were recovered from the water; he believes far more will be found.

The Costa Concordia Italian cruise boat is now lying flat today. Most of the passengers on boat the 2006 built ship were Italian. There were some additional French and German passengers. The boat was on a seven day Mediterranean cruise from Rome. It’s next stop was Savona.

The terror erupted off the Giglio’s coast. Three thousand two hundred passengers were on board joined with one thousand crew member. But during an 8-pm dinner Friday night, passengers heard a loud boom followed by a quick shifting of the boat. Officials claimed it was electrical failure. Passengers disagreed. They felt the boat had hit something.

Once they moved to the side of the boat, passengers saw water rushing into the boat, very fast. Passengers were also critical of the ship staff. It reportedly took hours to get the passengers off the boat.

News photos show a massive hole in the boat’s hull. The official statement from the company was not very reassuring. “In this moment all our efforts are focused on the completion of the last emergency operations, besides providing assistance to the guests and the crew who were onboard.

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“The company will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities in order to determine the causes of what happened.”

Officials are unclear how many people have definitely perished. Initial news reports put the number at two, another put it at six, but a third report claimed three people have died.

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The company tells news “It is a tragedy that deeply affects our company. Our first thoughts go to the victims and we would like to express our condolences and our closeness to their families and friends.”

Officials claim the electrical fault caused the problem. But witnesses tell news that they think the ship hit something. Passenger Luciano Castro told Italian news “It seemed as if the ship struck something and then we heard a loud bang and everything fell to the floor. The captain immediately came on the tannoy and said that there had been an electrical fault but it seemed very strange as the ship almost immediately began to list to one side. The glasses just slid off the table.”