http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16597277
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16620807
A recording has been released in which the coastguard is heard ordering the captain to ‘get back on board’
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera has posted what it says is a recording of a radio conversation on the day of the Costa Concordia disaster between Francesco Schettino, captain of the stricken ship, and Gregorio de Falco of the Italian coastguard in Livorno. It reveals how Mr De Falco repeatedly asked Capt Schettino to return to the ship. This translation into English was done by the BBC:
Gregorio De Falco: “Hello. Hello.”
Francesco Schettino: “Good evening, captain.”
De Falco: “Hello, I’m de Falco, from Livorno. I am speaking with the commander?”
Schettino: “I’m Commander Schettino.”
De Falco: “Listen Schettino, there are people trapped aboard, you go with your lifeboat under the prow of the ship on the port side and you go aboard the ship using the rope ladder. You go aboard and you tell me how many people there are. Is it clear? I’m recording this conversation, Commander Schettino.”
Schettino: “So, I’ll tell you something…”
De Falco: “Speak louder.”
Schettino: “Now, I’m in front of…”
De Falco: “Commander, speak louder, take the microphone and speak loud. Is that clear?”
Schettino: “Commander, right now the ship is skewed.”
De Falco: “Understood. Listen there are people going down from the prow using the rope ladder; you take that rope ladder on the opposite side, you go aboard and you tell me the number of people and what they have on board. Is that clear? You tell me whether there are children, women or people needing assistance. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Schettino, maybe you saved yourself from the sea, but I’ll make you pay for sure. Go aboard.”
Schettino: “Commander, please?”
De Falco: “Please, now you go aboard.”
Schettino: “I am on the life boat, under the ship, I haven’t gone anywhere, I’m here.”
De Falco: “What are you doing, commander?”
Schettino: “I’m here to coordinate rescues.”
De Falco: “What are you coordinating there? Go on board and coordinate rescues from on board. Do you refuse?”
Schettino: “No, no I’m not refusing.”
De Falco: “You’re refusing to go aboard, commander, tell me why you’re not going.”
Schettino: “I’m not going because there is another lifeboat stopped there.”
De Falco: “Go aboard: it’s an order. You have no evaluation to make, you declared abandon ship, now I give orders: go aboard. Is it clear?”
Schettino: “Commander I’m going aboard.”
De Falco: “Call me from aboard, my rescuer is there at the prow of the ship. There are already dead bodies, Schettino.”
Schettino: “How many dead bodies?”
De Falco: “I do not know. One for sure. You have to tell me how many.”
Schettino: “Do you realise that it’s dark here and we can’t see a thing?”
De Falco: “And what, do you want to go home, Schettino? It’s dark, so you want to go home…? Go on the prow of the ship, using the rope ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what are their needs. Do it now.”
Schettino: “Here there is also the vice commander. I’m together with him.”
De Falco: “Then go aboard together. Together. What’s his name?”
Schettino: “Dimitri.”
De Falco: “Dimitri what? You and your vice go aboard. Now, is it clear?”
Schettino: “Commander, I want to go aboard, but here there is the other lifeboat, there are other rescuers who stopped. Now I called other rescuers.”
De Falco: “You’ve been telling me this for one hour. Go aboard. Go aboard. And you tell me right away how many people there are.”
Schettino: “Ok commander.”
De Falco: “Go, quickly.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16568042
“Everything happened really fast. Everybody tried to get a life boat and people started to panic. A lot of people were falling down the stairs and some were hurt because things fell on them.
“Everybody was trying to get on the boats at the same time. When people had to get on the lifeboats they were pushing each other. It was a bit chaotic. We were trying to keep passengers calm but it was just impossible. Nobody knew what was going on.”
He said children and women were given priority when it came to allocating places on lifeboats, but the system proved to be difficult to implement because many men “weren’t accepting this” because they wanted to remain together as a family, prompting “huge confusion”.
Some people decided it was too difficult to get on to a lifeboat and chose to swim, with a number safely reaching the nearby island of Giglio.
“We were on the same level as the water so some people started to swim because they weren’t able to get on the lifeboats,” said Mr Costa.
He said he saw some people jumping but could not get a sense of just how many people did so.
Elizabeth Nanni, of Isola del Giglio Tourist Information, said those who arrived on the island were survivors in a state of shock, ”desperate people looking for each other” and people suffering from hypothermia after jumping into the sea.
“Usually there are 700 people on the island at this time of year, so receiving 4,000 people in the middle of the night wasn’t easy,” she said.
She said blankets and clothes were provided for those who arrived on the island, while churches and schools were opened to ensure that people had a roof over their head.
People were later moved to the mainland by ferries or airlifted by helicopter to the nearest hospital for emergency care.
But not everybody took a lifeboat or swam ashore.
Rescue teams searched for survivors and helicopters evacuated the last 50 people on the deck.
Several passengers compared the accident to the film Titanic.
The giant ocean liner sank in April 1912 and claimed more than 1,500 lives a century ago.
Another survivor, Mara Parmegiani, told Italian media there were “scenes of panic”.
Costa Concordia
- Entered service in 2006
- Built by Fincantieri in Italy at a cost of 450m euros (£372m; $570m)
- Capacity for 3,780 passengers
- 1,500 cabins, five restaurants and 13 bars
- Four swimming pools
- A 6,000 sq m (64,600 sq ft) spa with gym, sauna, Turkish bath and solarium
- Sports pitch, cinema, theatre, casino and disco
Source: Costa Cruises and cruise industry websites
“We were very scared and [it was freezing] because it happened while we were at dinner so everyone was in evening wear.
“We definitely didn’t have time to get anything else. They gave us blankets but there weren’t enough,” she said.
Marie André-Milesi
