Survivors of capsized cruise ship say ‘it was like a scene from Titanic’
“We heard this big bang,” said passenger Maria Marmegiano Alfonsi, one
of 4,200 aboard the cruise ship when it ran aground off the coast of
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Hide AdTuscany on Friday night in a tragedy that has so far claimed three lives
and left up to 40 missing at sea.
“There was a lot of panic, the tables overturned, glasses were flying
all over the place and we ran for the decks where we put on our life
vests.”
It was, said another passenger, Mara Parmegiani, “like a scene from
Titanic”. Dressed in their evening wear, diners abandoned their starters
and rushed from their tables towards the exit.
In the ship’s main theatre, passengers watching the magic show felt an
initial lurch, as if from a violent steering manoeuvre, followed a few
seconds later by a “shudder” that tipped rubbish bins over. The
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Hide Adsubsequent listing of the ship made the theatre curtains seem like they
were standing on their side.
“And then the magician disappeared,” said Canadian survivor Laurie
Willits. Moments later, panicked audience members fled too.
Some passengers said that for almost 45 minutes they were told by crew
the lights had gone off because of a simple “technical problem”.
Seasoned cruisers, however, knew better and went to get their life
jackets from their cabins and reported to their “muster stations” - the
emergency station each passenger is assigned to.
As the ship began to list, some were forced to crawl along upended
hallways as they sought safety. “We were crawling up a hallway, in the
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Hide Addark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing,” said
American Georgia Ananias, 61. “We could hear plates and dishes crashing
and people slamming against walls.”
But when they reached the muster stations, panic reigned. Passengers
reported seeing crew members delaying lowering the lifeboats even though
the ship was listing badly.
“We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the
side,” said Mike van Dijk, 54, from South Africa. “We were standing in
the corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get on to the boats. It
was a scramble, an absolute scramble.”
Some jumped into the sea. Others nearly fell. British cabaret dancer
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Hide AdRose Metcalf, 22, who was performing when the incident happened and was
one of the last to be winched to safety by a helicopter, feared for her
life.
Her father Philip Metcalf, who lives near Witchampton, in Dorset, said:
“The ship rolled over on its side so they had to get a fire hose, which
they strung between the railings, to stop them falling -overboard.
“She thought she’d have to make a jump for it as it was dark and cold,
like the sinking of the Titanic, but the helicopter then winched her
off.”
Others were forced to shimmy along a rope down the -exposed side of the
ship to a waiting rescue vessel below.
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Hide AdBut things didn’t improve for passengers once aboard the lifeboats or on
land. “No-one counted us, neither in the life boats nor on land,” said
Ophelie Gondelle, 28, a French military officer from Marseille.
The rescue operation is said to have involved five helicopters, from the
Italian coastguard, navy and air force, with many survivors taken to the
tiny island of Giglio.
There, the number of survivors far outnumbered Giglio’s 1,500 residents,
and island mayor Sergio Ortelli asked -”anyone with a roof” to open
their homes to shelter the passengers. Survivors were also taking refuge
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Hide Adin schools, hotels and a church on the island, which is a popular
holiday spot for Italians.
Passengers sat dazed in a school opened for them, wrapped in wool or
aluminium blankets, with some wearing their life vests and their
shoeless feet covered with aluminium foil. They were served warm tea and
bread, but confusion continued as they tried desperately to find the
right bus to begin their journey home.
Those who did make it to the mainland made for a pitiful sight.
Christine Hammer, from Germany, shivered near the harbour of Porto Santo
Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio. She
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Hide Adwas wearing elegant dinner clothes with a large pair of hiking boots,
given to her by a kind islander after she lost her shoes in the scramble
to escape. Left behind in her cabin were her passport, credit cards and
phone.
Now, the search to identify the dead and missing must -begin. It is
believed about 1,000 Italian passengers were on board, as well as more
than 500 Germans, about 160 French and 25 Britons, along with about
1,000 crew members, 12 of whom are British.
Reports say one of the dead was a crew member from Peru, and the other
were two passengers from France. All Britons have been accounted for.
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Hide AdLast night divers were searching the submerged half of the ship for the
40 people still missing. And hopes were raised just before 1pm local
time when emergency crews managed to make contact with a man and a woman
who had survived more than 24 hours within the body of the vessel since
the accident.
The Passenger Shipping Association released a statement saying: “While
the focus should ri THE cabaret was in full swing, glasses were clinking and in the
luxurious two-storey Milano restaurant onboard the Costa Concordia ocean
liner, passengers were sitting down to a six-course dinner when they
were suddenly plunged into blackness.
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Hide Ad“We heard this big bang,” said passenger Maria Marmegiano Alfonsi, one
of 4,200 aboard the cruise ship when it ran aground off the coast of
Tuscany on Friday night in a tragedy that has so far claimed three lives
and left up to 40 missing at sea.
“There was a lot of panic, the tables overturned, glasses were flying
all over the place and we ran for the decks where we put on our life
vests.”
It was, said another passenger, Mara Parmegiani, “like a scene from
Titanic”. Dressed in their evening wear, diners abandoned their starters
and rushed from their tables towards the exit.
In the ship’s main theatre, passengers watching the magic show felt an
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Adinitial lurch, as if from a violent steering manoeuvre, followed a few
seconds later by a “shudder” that tipped rubbish bins over. The
subsequent listing of the ship made the theatre curtains seem like they
were standing on their side.
“And then the magician disappeared,” said Canadian survivor Laurie
Willits. Moments later, panicked audience members fled too.
Some passengers said that for almost 45 minutes they were told by crew
the lights had gone off because of a simple “technical problem”.
Seasoned cruisers, however, knew better and went to get their life
jackets from their cabins and reported to their “muster stations” - the
emergency station each passenger is assigned to.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAs the ship began to list, some were forced to crawl along upended
hallways as they sought safety. “We were crawling up a hallway, in the
dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing,” said
American Georgia Ananias, 61. “We could hear plates and dishes crashing
and people slamming against walls.”
But when they reached the muster stations, panic reigned. Passengers
reported seeing crew members delaying lowering the lifeboats even though
the ship was listing badly.
“We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats from the
side,” said Mike van Dijk, 54, from South Africa. “We were standing in
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Adthe corridors and they weren’t allowing us to get on to the boats. It
was a scramble, an absolute scramble.”
Some jumped into the sea. Others nearly fell. British cabaret dancer
Rose Metcalf, 22, who was performing when the incident happened and was
one of the last to be winched to safety by a helicopter, feared for her
life.
Her father Philip Metcalf, who lives near Witchampton, in Dorset, said:
“The ship rolled over on its side so they had to get a fire hose, which
they strung between the railings, to stop them falling -overboard.
“She thought she’d have to make a jump for it as it was dark and cold,
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Adlike the sinking of the Titanic, but the helicopter then winched her
off.”
Others were forced to shimmy along a rope down the -exposed side of the
ship to a waiting rescue vessel below.
But things didn’t improve for passengers once aboard the lifeboats or on
land. “No-one counted us, neither in the life boats nor on land,” said
Ophelie Gondelle, 28, a French military officer from Marseille.
The rescue operation is said to have involved five helicopters, from the
Italian coastguard, navy and air force, with many survivors taken to the
tiny island of Giglio.
There, the number of survivors far outnumbered Giglio’s 1,500 residents,
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Adand island mayor Sergio Ortelli asked -”anyone with a roof” to open
their homes to shelter the passengers. Survivors were also taking refuge
in schools, hotels and a church on the island, which is a popular
holiday spot for Italians.
Passengers sat dazed in a school opened for them, wrapped in wool or
aluminium blankets, with some wearing their life vests and their
shoeless feet covered with aluminium foil. They were served warm tea and
bread, but confusion continued as they tried desperately to find the
right bus to begin their journey home.
Those who did make it to the mainland made for a pitiful sight.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdChristine Hammer, from Germany, shivered near the harbour of Porto Santo
Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio. She
was wearing elegant dinner clothes with a large pair of hiking boots,
given to her by a kind islander after she lost her shoes in the scramble
to escape. Left behind in her cabin were her passport, credit cards and
phone.
Now, the search to identify the dead and missing must -begin. It is
believed about 1,000 Italian passengers were on board, as well as more
than 500 Germans, about 160 French and 25 Britons, along with about
1,000 crew members, 12 of whom are British.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdReports say one of the dead was a crew member from Peru, and the other
were two passengers from France. All Britons have been accounted for.
Last night divers were searching the submerged half of the ship for the
40 people still missing. And hopes were raised just before 1pm local
time when emergency crews managed to make contact with a man and a woman
who had survived more than 24 hours within the body of the vessel since
the accident.
The Passenger Shipping Association released a statement saying: “While
the focus should rightly be on attending to the immediate incident at
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Adhand there will, of course, be a full and thorough investigation into
the causes of this event and the full co-operation of both the company
and the wider industry is assured.”
The Concordia had a previous accident in Italian waters. In 2008, when
winds buffeted Palermo, the ship banged against the Sicilian port’s dock
and suffered damage, but
no-one was injured.
Passengers onboard the ship’s final cruise said it was disorganised - 12
hours on from the accident, no roll call had yet been taken. They said
there was a lax attitude towards evacuation drills.