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Grounded Cruise Ship Death Toll Mounts

ROME (AP) – Italian media say five more bodies have been found aboard a cruise ship that capsized off the coast of Tuscany, raising the official death toll to 11.

Teams have been searching the ship for passengers and crew missing since the Costa Concordia struck rocks Friday evening and capsized.

Rescuers exploded four holes in the hull of the ship earlier Tuesday to gain easier access to areas that had not yet been searched.

Before the latest find, 29 people from the cruise ship were still missing. Officials said the missing included 14 Germans, six Italians, four French, two Americans, one Hungarian, one Indian and one Peruvian.

The captain of the  Costa Concordia is heard in a recording making excuses as an Italian coast guard official repeatedly orders him to get back on his crippled ship.

In a telephone conversation, the official berates the captain, who is on a lifeboat and repeatedly says he doesn’t want to return to the ship even as passengers are still being evacuated. The ship struck a rock Friday evening and capsized.

The officer tells Francesco Schettino to reboard and assess the needs of passengers: “It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses.”

Schettino is finally heard agreeing to reboard. It is unclear whether he did.

Schettino has been jailed for investigation of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck.

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