Search for survivors of Italy shipping accident

ITALY: Rescue workers were searching for survivors at the port of Genoa on Wednesday, after a container ship smashed into a control tower in a night-time accident that left three dead and revived painful memories in Italy of a deadly cruise ship disaster last year. Around 14 people were in the tower when it was knocked over, plunging some into the cold water and trapping others in a lift which toppled into the sea, media reports said.

One of the victims was reported to be Daniele Fratantonio, 30, who worked for the coast guard operations centre. The other two have yet to be identified. Rescue workers dived into the inky waters around the port -- the busiest in Italy -- in a frantic search to find around six or seven people believed to be missing after the accident, which left four seriously wounded.

Others used dogs trained to find people in earthquake zones to see if survivors were trapped under the rubble around the tower. The number of missing was not clear because the accident happened during a shift change at the vast metal tower, which bent over by 45 degrees before partially collapsing.

AFP