La Repubblica newspaper has published what it says is a telephone conversation between the port authority and the captain of the Costa Concordia on the night the cruise ship veered off course and crashed into rocks off the coast of Tuscany, NBC News reports.
The transcript of the conversation is in the hands of prosecutors.
The captain, Francesco Schettino, had sailed perilously close to the coast so that the Costa Concordia's head waiter could salute his family on land, according to other media reports.
Here is the translation of the conversation between him and the port authority shortly after the accident, according to NBC News:
00:32amThe port authority asks the captain, Francesco Schettino, how many people are left on board. He says 200-300, therefore claiming unrealistically that 4,000 people were evacuated in only 40 minutes. It quickly becomes clear he has already abandoned ship.
Schettino: "Now I'll go back up", he claims. "I came out to check out to figure out what was happening."
PA (Port Authority):"Will you be the last on board?"
Schsttino:"I will be the last on board."
00:42amPA asks how many people still need to be evacuated.
Schettino:"I called and they told me there are about 100 people. I am coordinating the operations. But I can't go back on it. We have abandoned the ship."
PA:"Captain, did you really abandon the ship??"
Schettino:"No, no, I am here, I am coordinating the evacuation."
PA:"Captain, this is an order, now I am in charge. Get back on that ship and coordinate the operations. There are already casualties."
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Enzo Russo/AFP/Getty Images The captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, is escorted by an Italian policeman in Grosseto on Saturday. |
Schettino:"How many?"
PA:"You should tell me that! What do you want to do, go home? Now you get back on that ship and tell us what can be done, how many people are still there and what do they need."
Schettino:"OK, OK, I am going."
(The captain will not get back on the ship)
Meanwhile, Italian coast guard officials late Monday raised number of missing from Friday's shipwreck to 29 -- four crew members and 25 passengers, a top coast guard official, Marco Brusco, said on state TV. That total is up from 16 cited by authorities earlier in the day. Bruno didn't immediately explain the rise. Six bodies have been recovered.
Story updated 4:53 p.m. ET: The captain of the luxury cruise ship that capsized after hitting rocks off Italy had sailed perilously close to the coast to "make a bow" to people on a Tuscan island, according to media reports.
Francesco Schettino made the dangerous maneuver so that the Costa Concordia's head waiter could salute his family on land, according to reports.
Schettino denies charges of manslaughter and his lawyer has said his actions had saved many lives. More >>
Francesco Schettino made the dangerous maneuver so that the Costa Concordia's head waiter could salute his family on land, according to reports.
Schettino denies charges of manslaughter and his lawyer has said his actions had saved many lives. More >>
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