Survivors who escaped a luxury cruise liner that ran aground and tipped over off Italy’s coast recounted a chaotic and terrifying evacuation through the ship’s upended hallways on Saturday, as divers searched the submerged part for any people still unaccounted for in the confusion.

Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia with 4,234 people aboard ran aground hundreds of yards off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water.

As authorities and port officials carefully matched names on the cruise ship’s list of passengers and crew with those of survivors getting off ferries or other boats on the mainland, the number of the unaccounted for steadily dropped to roughly 40.

Among those passengers the U.S. State Department estimates 126 to be U.S. citizens, Fox News confirms. At this time the American passengers have not been listed among those missing or injured.

Passengers described a scene reminiscent of “Titanic”, saying they escaped the ship by crawling along hallways, desperately trying to reach safety as the lights went out and plates and glasses crashed around them. Helicopters whisked some survivors to safety, others were rescued by private boats in the area, and witnesses said some people jumped from the ship into the dark, cold sea.

At darkness, the diving operations, involving fire department divers and coast guard divers, was suspended for the night, coast guard officials said. While only a small section of the submerged area was inspected, no signs of any survivors or victims were immediately found, said Capt. Emilio Del Santos, of the port captain’s office in Livorno. Helicopters and sea searches of the area were continuing.

The ship was lying virtually flat off Giglio’s coast, its starboard side submerged in the water and the huge gash showing clearly on its upturned hull.

Passengers complained the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.

An evacuation drill was scheduled for Saturday afternoon, even though some passengers had already been on board for several days.

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