© Nadia Shira Cohen/The New York TimesThe cruise ship Costa Concordia, which struck a rock and capsized Friday, lays in shallow water in Giglio, Italy, on Jan. 15, 2012.
Rescue squads used controlled explosions on Tuesday to enter a stricken Italian cruise liner in the increasingly despairing hunt for survivors as authorities almost doubled their estimate of the number missing on the huge vessel to 29 people.
The
Costa Concordia's owners accused their captain of causing Friday's disaster by veering the ship too close to shore, where it hit a rock, in a bravura "salute" to residents of a Tuscan island off Italy's Mediterranean coast.
Rescue workers carried out a series of controlled explosions on Tuesday to open up new entry points into the stricken liner
Costa Concordia. The Italian mega-ship ran aground just off Giglio Island in Italy late on Friday.
Captain Francesco Schettino was arrested on Saturday accused of manslaughter and abandoning the ship before all people were evacuated, and he was due to appear before magistrates for questioning on Tuesday morning.
Prosecutors say Mr. Schettino also refused to go back on board when requested by the coastguard.