A state of emergency has been declared after an unidentified liquid began leaking from the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia.
Protective barriers have been put in place around the ship where 29 people are still missing, the Italian environment minister Corrado Clini said.
He told a news conference: “Monitoring is continuing to take the decisions aimed at
avoiding environmental risks.”
Anti-spill booms were earlier being deployed to minimise the risk if there were a leak.
Click here for our graphic sequence to find out how the cruise liner ended up on its side
Of the 29 missing, four are believed to be members of the crew and 25 passengers.
The vessel hit an underwater reef off the coast of Tuscany on Friday, tearing a 70-metre hole in the hull and causing it to tip onto its side.
The Costa Concordia has been balanced on the rocks since the accident but the weather earlier took a turn for the worse causing it to begin to slip, fire brigade officials said.
However, as the weather improved, officials said their search could resume, but only in daylight hours.
Speaking of the fears the incident could turn into an environmental disaster, Giglio mayor Sergio Ortelli said: “This is an ecological timebomb.
HEAD CAMERA SHOTS FROM CRUISE SHIP RESCUERS
“I hope that the fuel can be taken off the ship soon and maybe the ship can be removed too because it is hampering navigation.”
Filippo Marini, head of the local coastguard press office, said: “There is maximum attention on the environmental problem. We are all working together to resolve this as soon as possible.”
In an earlier news conference, the boss of the company which owns the liner said its main focus now was the environmental concerns, as well as the welfare of the passengers and crew.
Costa Cruises chairman and chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi said there were 500,000 gallons of fuel on board, in 17 separate tanks.
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