Alarm sounded too late, say cruise ship crew members

Indian crew members from the cruise ship which ran aground off Italy say the vessel's alarm sounded very late and they did not realise the scale of the disaster until the ship started rolling on its side.

Four men flown to New Delhi today were the first to return out of 203 Indian people who were aboard the Costa Concordia, which hit a reef off the Tuscan island of Giglio after the captain made an unauthorised diversion.

All but one of the Indians aboard the ship were crew members, and one Indian man is among 21 people missing.

Ship waiter Mukesh Kumar, 26, said "the emergency alarm was sounded very late", only after the ship "started tilting and water started seeping" in.

Another crew member who worked in the kitchen also said he did not realise the seriousness of the disaster until the ship started rolling onto its side.

"The ship shook for a while, and then the crockery started falling all over," Kandari Surjan Singh said. "People started panicking. Then the captain ordered that everything is under control and that it was a normal electric fault ... so people calmed down after that."

About 60 Indians were arriving today around India, with most others due back on Friday, officials said.