3 El Dorado County residents survive cruise ship accident
By Denny Walsh, Sacramento Bee
The final leg of a European vacation ended abruptly early Saturday morning for three El Dorado County residents when the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground and tipped on its side off the Tuscany coast.
Adam and Joanne Lynch of Pollock Pines and Phyllis Egan of Placerville were unhurt during what they described to Joanne Lynch’s sister, Melody Rainwater, as a chaotic and somewhat unnerving experience.
Rainwater called the Bee to share news of her family’s narrow escape.
Egan and the Lynches did not return messages left by the Bee at their hotel in Rome.
“Their cabin was on the dry side, and they were able to get out pretty easily,” Rainwater said Joanne Lynch told her. Her sister telephoned from the U.S. Embassy in Rome to assure Rainwater they were safe. In a news release, embassy staff estimated that as many as 130 Americans were on board the Costa Concordia.
Like many of the other 4,231 passengers and crew, the El Dorado County trio spent the night on the tiny island of Giglio, where they took shelter in a church.
