GROSSETO, Italy (AP) — The captain of the capsized Costa Concordia on Thursday asked the judge at his manslaughter trial to order tests on the cruise liner's wreckage to determine why electrical and other systems failed after the vessel struck a reef off an Italian island in 2012, killing 32 people. The court needs "to understand what happened after the collision," Domenico Pepe, one of Schettino's lawyers, said outside the trial, which is being held in a theater in Grosseto to accommodate all the survivors or victims' families who might want to attend. Had it functioned after the cruise ship's hull was pierced by the rocky reef, "there would have been power to run elevators" to facilitate the evacuation of the 4,200 passengers and crew members who were aboard, Pepe told reporters. Seawater rushed through the 70-meter (230-foot) long gash in the hull, invading what was supposed to be water-tight compartments, including one housing the engine room. Schettino claimed the tilt of the ship made him fall off, ending up in a launched lifeboat, and contends he is a scapegoat since five other defendants were allowed to plea bargain for relatively lenient sentences.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 2 days ago.
↧