According to legend, Santorini was home to the lost city of Atlantis, 
<br/>which was destroyed and submerged following a giant earthquake and volcanic eruption.
<br/>What should have been a luxury cruise to this wondrous island ended up as a disaster for nearly 1600 foreign tourists on board 
<br/>the Sea Diamond which hit rocks off the coast of the Greek island and then sank at 7 am nearly 15 hours after the accident happened. 
<br/>All of the passengers were evacuated safely from the liner except 2 who, 
<br/>some survivors claim, may have jumped into the sea and swam ashore. 
<br/>The owners of the cruise liner admit that human error may have been the cause. 
<br/>A remote control submarine searched the sunken ship recently and zoomed back pictures of ropes and 
<br/>escape ladders hanging from the decks. Deep sea divers continue to look for clues which they believe 
<br/>could provide answers as to who is to blame for the accident. 
<br/>Some say that the captain has claimed that underwater currents must have pushed the ship onto the rocks. 
<br/>It is believed that he may have been trying to get the ship close to the rocks to allow passengers a better view of the island. 
<br/>He and 5 other crew members have been charged with negligence.
<br/>Different passengers suggested that members of the crew may have been watching basketball on TV at the time of the accident. 
<br/>The passengers were rescued from the sinking ship in a three-hour operation, 
<br/>but some passengers complained of an insufficient supply of life vests, 
<br/>little guidance from crew members and being forced into a steep climb down rope-ladders to safety. 
<br/>Meanwhile on the surface, a clean up operation is underway as tons of oil escaped from the Sea Diamond.
<br/>There are fears that the damage to the ship may have been so severe that she may have started to break up and 
<br/>cause a major environmental disaster. 
<br/>The evacuation was the largest Greek rescue operation since September 2000 Express Samina ferry disaster, 
<br/>which killed 80 people near the holiday island of Paros when the ferry struck rocks and sank. 
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