Italy ,Giglio , Costa Concordia Run aground Showing Damaged Hull New Aerial footage 14.01.2012

Three bodies have been pulled from the sea and officials fear there may be more after a luxury cruise ship with several Canadians aboard ran aground off the western coast of Italy late Friday evening.

Chaos marked the scene as approximately 4,200 passengers and crew evacuated the Costa Concordia near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio.

Italian news reports have identified the three dead as two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman.

Twelve hours after the incident, the marooned vessel could be seen tipped on its starboard side with a 50-metre gash in the hull, half of it practically submerged in water.

Evacuees have been placed in communities along the Italian coast as local authorities try to determine why the ship ran aground.

While officials tally up survivors, a coast guard official says that 70 people who've been unaccounted for may be "in the belly of the ship."

Capt. Cosimo Nicastro said divers will help inspect the submerged half of the ship to check for anyone that may be trapped inside.

Meanwhile, freelance journalist Josephine McKenna says many evacuees are frustrated with the way the incident was handled.

"Many of the passengers have also complained that there was major chaos, there wasn't a strategy for evacuating people," she told CTV News Channel in a phone interview from Rome.

Passengers have said the crew had an evacuation drill scheduled for Saturday afternoon, the day after the incident.

Melissa Goduti, a passenger from Wallingford, Connecticut, noted the irony of the lesson's timing.

"We had joked what if something had happened today," the 28-year-old told The Associated Press.

When the ship first hit the shoreline, the vessel's lights went out and passengers were told that they had simply lost power, reported McKenna.

Panic ensued moments later when "tables started falling and plates and glasses were crashing," she noted. It's believed that that's when the boat began to take in water and tilt.

A coast guard official from the Tuscan port of Livorno said the ship "hit an obstacle," but didn't elaborate further.

'Trapped inside the ship as it tipped over'

Helicopters were called to the scene to assist passengers who weren't in a position to board lifeboats. Some boats in the area also helped whisk away survivors.

"No one counted us, neither in the life boats or on land," passenger Ophelie Gondelle told the Associated Press, adding that there hadn't been an evacuation drill since boarding in early January.

It was a terrifying ordeal for 60 passengers in particular, who were trapped inside and had to be freed by firemen, said McKenna.

"They were trapped inside the ship as it tipped over," she said.

McKenna noted that there were some Canadians, Americans and Australians, as well as several hundred Europeans on board, but a passenger list with exact numbers hasn't been released.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Francesco Paolillo said the Concordia is believed to have set sail with 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew members.

Thousands of survivors have now been displaced and are taking refuge in schools, hotels and even a church on the island of Giglio, where they outnumber the modest population of 1,500.

Operator Costa Cruises said the ship was sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, starting in Citavecchia with ports of call in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallora, Cagliari and Palermo.

According to ANSA, the Concordia suffered damage in 2008 when strong winds caused it to hit a dock in Palermo but no one was injured.

Police continue to question the ship's current captain, said McKenna