Costa Concordia captain under house arrest

By

The captain of the Costa Concordia is now under house arrest, as the death toll from Friday’s disaster rises to 11.

Prosecutors have accused Capt. Francesco Schettino of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel before all passengers were evacuated.

A judge ordered the ship’s captain under house arrest following a hearing on what happened to the cruise ship after it hit a reef off Tuscany.

Schettino said his actions saved lives and that he stayed aboard the ship until it was evacuated. However, a recording of his conversation with Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco, made public on Tuesday, indicates he fled before all passengers were off _ and then resisted De Falco’s repeated orders to return.

“You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear?” De Falco shouted in the audio tape.

Schettino resisted, saying the ship was tipping and it was dark. At the time, he and his second-in-command were in a lifeboat and the captain said he was co-ordinating the rescue from there. He also said he was not going back aboard the ship “because the other lifeboat is stopped.” Passengers have said many lifeboats on the exposed port side of the ship didn’t winch down after the ship had capsized.

De Falco shouted back: “And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!”

“You go aboard. It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses. You have declared ‘Abandon ship,’ now I am in charge,” De Falco shouted.

At one point, De Falco vowed: “I’m going to make sure you get in trouble. … I am going to make you pay for this. Go on board, (expletive)!”

Schettino was finally heard on the tape agreeing to reboard. But the coast guard has said he never went back, and had police arrest him on land.

The captain recounted his version of events before prosecutors and the judge at Tuesday’s hearing in Grosseto to decide whether he should remain jailed.

He could face up to 12 years in prison on the abandoning ship charge alone.

Five more bodies found on Tuesday were discovered near one of the ship’s emergency evacuation points.

Divers were able to get to the bodies after explosive experts blasted holes through the grounded side of the ship.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today