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Five More Bodies Found In Wrecked Cruise Ship, 28 Still Missing
By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 17, 2012
Modified Jan 17, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jan 17, 2012
Modified Jan 17, 2012
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Italian authorities say that five more bodies have been recovered from the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground near the Island of Giglio last Friday night. The bodies were of four men and one woman, bringing the total toll to 11. Authorities, which had been saying that the number of missing was 16, now say 28 are missing.
Investigators and the Costa cruise company say that the boat's captain, Francesco Schettino, deviated from the usual course along the Italian coast by veering too close to the island and hitting rocks. It's suspected that Schettino changed course so that head waiter Antonello Tievoli could see his family; the waiter's father said, "Antonello called and said that we should look out of the window at around 9.30pm because he would be on the ship and it would pass right by Giglio. All the ships do it but they never come that close - I was at the window with my wife and, as he said, the ship went past." The waiter's sister also posted on Facebook a half hour before the crash, "Shortly, the Costa Concordia will pass really, really close, a big hello to my brother who will disembark at Savona and finally get to enjoy some holiday." But the ship hit a reef and a panicked evacuation ensued. Here's night-time video of passengers scrambling from the huge ship:
Schettino, who is in jail and could face manslaughter charges, has claimed that he went on the usual route—a route that the boat took dozens of times a year—but satellite data shows his route deviated from the usual one. And the NY TImes reports on transcript of a conversation between Schettino and the Italian Coast Guard:
He told them he had abandoned the ship, then immediately denied it.
“I’m not on board because the bows of the ship are coming up. We’ve abandoned her.”
“What do you mean? You’ve abandoned ship?”
“No. No way have I abandoned ship. I’m here,” Mr. Schettino replied.
In the final call, at 1:46 a.m., Mr. Schettino spoke to a coast guard captain, Gregorio Maria De Falco, who ordered him to return to the ship, according to Corriere della Sera, in an increasingly desperate and heated conversation.
“Schettino? Listen Schettino. There are people trapped on board,” the coast guard captain said.
“Commander, please… ”
“No, please,” the coast guard captain said. “You go on board, this is an order” he said, later adding: “There are already dead bodies.”
“How many?” Mr. Schettino asked.
“I do not know. One I know. One I heard. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are, Christ!”
Some passengers had been told that the ship simply hit a wave and they didn't need to worry about the boat's listing. The Guardian reports, "The crew began preparing the lifeboats 13 minutes before the order was given to abandon ship. It described the action, by some of Schettino's officers, as 'a kind of mutiny'."
Rescue crews have been setting explosives in parts of the ship to gain access, in order to look for survivors and bodies. Here's video from the Italian Coast Guard over the submerged ship:
Tagged
costa concordia
costa cruise
francesco schettino
italian coast guard
italy
titanic
tragedy
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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