ITALY: As relatives of passengers still missing after cruise liner disaster, witnesses say the captain of the ship was visibly shaken after the incident

Record ID: 566881

  • Title: ITALY: As relatives of passengers still missing after cruise liner disaster, witnesses say the captain of the ship was visibly shaken after the incident
  • Date: 20th January 2012
  • Summary: ORBETELLO, ITALY (JANUARY 19, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RELATIVES OF MISSING PASSENGERS OUTSIDE HOTEL
  • Embargoed: 4th February 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA7GW6XJE7OYLSQI35TJH07CR3J
  • Story Text: As relatives of missing Costa Concordia passengers on Thursday (January 19, 2012) waited to hear news over the fate of their loved ones, on Giglio island accounts of how the ship's captain was after the incident have surfaced.
    Taxi driver Ottavio Brizzi says he gave Captain Francesco Schettino a short lift from the port authority offices to his hotel on Saturday (January 14) morning.
    "He was completely in shock," Brizzi said.
    "The only thing he asked me was where a store was to buy socks, if there was one," the taxi driver said.
    Brizzi said the captain seemed "destroyed".
    Meanwhile, the owner of the hotel where Schettino was taken following the incident said the captain seemed shaken.
    "He arrived here around 11:30 am, or noon - I can't remember. The survivors had already left and I was putting things in order and he arrived and asked if he could get changed. He had a quick coffee," Paolo Fanciulli of the Hotel Bahamas in Giglio.
    "Shaken. Shaken, you could tell. We all were."
    Schettino's home in the village of Meta Di Sorrento is surrounded by media, waiting for a comment from the captain, who is under house arrest.
    He has been charged with causing the accident by steering too close to shore and then abandoning the vessel before the evacuation was complete.
    Some locals called for him and his crew not to be demonized however.
    "I would just like to say that we need to wait for the judges to give their verdict and not demonise the crew and the captain. Certainly errors were made, the magistrates will take the appropriate action. There will be sentences," one local man said.
    Others are not so forgiving and say they have been deeply upset by the accident.
    "I'm really upset because so many families have been affected by this. Unfortunately, this is a tragedy, that makes us very sad. At least according to what the media says the captain is responsible and obviously if you make mistakes, you have to pay for it," one identified woman said.
    Eleven people are confirmed dead and at least 24 are still missing from more than 4,200 passengers and crew aboard when disaster struck the Concordia two hours into a week-long cruise of the western Mediterranean.
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