Captain Francesco Schettino Jailed Facing Manslaughter
The Captain does NOT always,
go down with his ship.
Captain Francesco Schettino was in charge of the ship that ran aground off Italy. He is jailed and is being
interrogated by prosecutors and a judge will decide on whether to keep
him under arrest for allegedly abandoning the vessel before rescue
efforts ended.
The questioning today in the city of Grosseto comes as details emerged
about Schettino’s actions after the Costa Concordia
hit rocks off Giglio Island near the Tuscan coast at 9:45 p.m. on Jan.
13.
Schettino was ordered by a Coast Guard official to return to the
cruise liner to help with rescue efforts about three hours after the
accident, according to audio of telephone conversations between them
posted on daily Corriere della Sera’s website today. But he fled the scene.
“Get back on the ship and tell me how many people are still there,”
Coast Guard Commander Gregorio Maria De Falco, speaking from the city of
Livorno on the Italian mainland, told Schettino, according to the tape.
“Tell me if there are women, children and people in need there.”
Schettino didn’t return to the ship and took a taxi on Giglio before
being arrested, media including Sky TG24 said. He is accused of
manslaughter and abandoning the Costa Concordia when passengers were
still on board “since we know he was in the harbor about midnight,”
Francesco Verusio, chief prosecutor in Grosseto, said in a Jan. 15
interview. He is also accused of causing the accident that left at least
six people dead.
A gay couple from Austin Texas escaped to safety. Fortunately the couple had read about the location of the
lifeboats. – See why it is important to pay attention to safety features?!