Italy's Mario Monti on 'terrible' cruise ship disaster

As hopes fade of finding any more survivors on the Costa Concordia, Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti has said ''any such disaster could and should be avoided''.

Speaking at a joint news conference with David Cameron, he added that he did not want to ''run ahead'' of the official investigations.

He also paid tribute to the ''generous co-operation'' of the local people after the cruise ship crashed into rocks on Friday.

Twenty-three people are missing, and 11 are confirmed dead.