MOSCOW, January 15 (Itar-Tass) —— The hotline of the Federal Tourism Agency covering the Saturday wreck of the liner Costa Concordia off the Italian shore has received more than 450 calls, a hotline specialist told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
“Calls to the hotline are being made non-stop, every minute. Families and friends of the Russian tourists traveling by the wrecked liner ask whether the tourists are all right and whether they need any aid,” he said. “None of the families or tourists has asked about monetary compensations.”
“The hotline will remain operational until the full stabilization of the liner situation,” the source said.
The Russian embassy in Rome has opened a similar hotline, and a task group has been formed for rendering assistance to the tourists.
“The number of Russian tourists aboard the wrecked liner given yesterday (108) remains unchanged. We have learned about three crewmembers – Russian citizens, two of whom are now at the hospital with minor injuries,” Federal Tourism Agency spokesman Oleg Moseyev told Itar-Tass. He noted that the Agency had received neither complaints nor requests.
The liner ran aground off the Italian coastline at about 11:00 p.m. local time on January 13. The wreck killed two tourists from France and a citizen of Peru. More than 40 people were announced missing. In all, the liner had almost 4,300 people aboard, among them 1,000 crewmembers. Seventy-nine people were injured and three died in the wreck.