Survivors of the Costa Concordia have told of the panic and chaos as thousands of people desperately attempted to flee the stricken vessel.
Incredible stories of survival have emerged today from some of the 4,200 people on board the cruise liner which hit the rocks off the coast of the tiny Italian island of Giglio.
Fathers desperate to be with their families ignored the order that women and children should go first. There was even fighting between some passengers who tried to get on lifeboats.
Some people described it as being an 'every man for himself' situation.
The Foreign Secretary William Hague said today that all British passengers and crew on board have been accounted for and are safe.
It is thought most of the 23 British passengers and 12 crew members made their way to Rome after being rescued.
Eight British dancers were on-board the boat and were among the last to leave the sinking vessel, with many staying behind to help others to safety.
Among them was Rose Metcalf, who let her family know about the dramatic events in a message she left on her father's mobile phone at 3am. She said: 'Hi, Dad. Just ringing to let you know that I am alive and safe and got airlifted out of the cruise ship.
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'I don't know what will happen – I don't know how many are dead. I am alive... just. I think I was the last one off.'
Her story is one of dozens of incredible tales which have emerged from people desperate to flee the stricken ship.
Ms Metcalf, who joined the dance group in October, was performing in the ship's restaurant when the disaster struck at just after 9.30pm Italian time.
Dressed still in her dance clothes, water started entering the boat and the lights went out.
She said: 'I dashed off to my cabin where I had dry clothes and put them on with a life-jacket.
'I went off to help calm the passengers and do a roll-call. People then started going into the boats.'
As the ship eventually began to list uncontrollably, she and four colleagues who stayed on board used a water hose to tie themselves to a handrail before being rescued by an Italian air force helicopter.
She said: 'By the end, there were about five of us and we were the last to get off. We were getting ready to jump off and swim for it.
'The boat was at 90 degrees. Then the helicopter turned up. Guys came down in harnesses and took us off.'
Ms Metcalf, 22, was then taken to an air force base in Tuscany. She telephoned her father Phil early yesterday morning to let him know she was safe, although after leaving the message it was more than six hours before they spoke to each other.
Mr Metcalf today revealed that at the time of the incident, his daughter was told by superiors to put on her cocktail dress and tell passengers the problem was only an electrical fault.
He told BBC Breakfast: 'Luckily she ignored them, because being one of the last five people off the boat she would have been stranded there with a dress on and without a life-saving vest.'
Mr Metcalf also said the dancer revealed that the captain had abandoned the ship in the early stages of the evacuation, leaving his staff onboard.
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