Leaked footage of the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise liner purports to show captain about to abandon vessel before passengers had escaped
ADVERTISEMENTA video has emerged allegedly showing the captain of the Costa Concordia preparing to leave the sinking cruise liner, while hundreds of passengers were still on board.
The images are being used by the prosecution in the trial of Francesco Schettino who denies abandoning ship and instead claims he was thrown into the water as the ship rolled.
His defence team also supports Schettino ‘s claim that by steering the ship close to shore he had saved many lives.
Domenico Pepe, Francesco Schettino’s Lawyer commented after Wednesday’s court proceedings: “He (Schettino) was right: the ship reached the shores and it was possible to disembark safely, more then four thousand people and they all reached the land. Besides that, it remains to be seen in future examinations why sadly 32 people lost their lives.”
The Costa Concordia sank after the captain crashed it into rocks off a Tuscan island in January 2012.
So far Schettino has rejected allegations that he went too close to the island to impress a woman and has confirmed that he delayed raising the alarm for over an hour in order to prevent passenger panic.
Schettino faces a 20-year jail term if found guilty of the charge of manslaughter.