Emergency crews are working through the night around the wreck of a stricken cruise ship, but fears are growing for the 29 people still missing.

Six people are known to have died after the Costa Concordia crashed into rocks off Italy's west coast on Friday night.

But local coast guard chief Marco Brusco said there was still a "glimmer of hope" that survivors could be found.

The ship's owners have blamed the captain for Friday's crash, saying he changed course towards an island.

Meanwhile, Italy says it will declare a state of emergency over the incident, and provide funding to help avert any environmental disaster.

The Italian environment minister said liquid was leaking from the ship, but it was unclear if it was fuel.

Captain 'in difficult position'

The missing are thought to include four crew members, as well as passengers from the US, Germany, France and Italy.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter and a judge is due to decide on Tuesday whether the 52-year-old should continue to be held.

On Monday, the Costa Concordia's owners, Costa Cruises, said Capt Schettino hit the rocks because he deliberately steered the ship towards to Giglo Island.

Prosecutors also claim that he was responsible for the disaster.

"The captain is in a very difficult position because we are sure enough that he abandoned the ship when many passengers were still waiting to be evacuated," said prosecutor Francesco Verusio.

A transcript purportedly of conversations between the captain and the coastguard has emerged in the Italian media - apparently drawn from one of the ship's black box recorders - which appears to corroborate the claims that the captain left the ship before all the passengers escaped.

Capt Schettino has denied wrongdoing and says the rocks were not on his charts. He has insisted that he and his crew were the last people to leave the vessel.

His lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, said his client was "overcome and wants to express his greatest condolences to the victims", adding that the captain had carried out a dangerous manoeuvre that had actually saved lives.

Conditions 'disastrous'

The ship, carrying 4,200 passengers and crew, had its hull ripped through when it hit rocks late on Friday.

Some people were forced to swim for land as the angle of the ship made boarding lifeboats impossible.

German media have reported that 12 German passengers are still missing, and US officials have appealed for information about two Americans - Jerry Heil, 69, and his wife Barbara, 70, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

Six Italians, two French couples and a Peruvian are also reported to be unaccounted for.

Source:bbc.co.uk

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