According to an update from the Department of Foreign Affairs, there were no reported casualties among Filipinos on board the Costa Concordia Liner, the cruise ship that ran aground near Giglio, an island off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.

There were 4,000 people on board, including 1,000 crew members, of which 300 were Filipinos. Five people on board have been reported dead because of the incident.

The company acknowledged that the captain apparently made grave “errors of judgement” — specifically sailing too close to shore and failing to follow company procedures during the emergency.

The rocks opened a 160-foot gash in the liner’s hull at the level of the machine room, submerging all the crew cabins.

While Italian media said the missing crew members were believed to be Indonesian and Filipino, and may not have understood the order to abandon the ship.

The cruise line said 3,216 passengers and 1,013 crew members were on board at the time of the accident.
Coastguard spokesman Filipino Marin said the two elderly victims were "found on the third floor in a meeting area section of the ship".

He said the bodies were being taken to the mainland for identification.

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