GIGLIO, Italy — The captain of a grounded Italian cruise ship was placed under house arrest today after he was interrogated by prosecutors for allegedly abandoning the sinking boat.
The decision to place Capt. Francesco Schettino under house arrest comes after he was grilled for three hours by prosecutors regarding his whereabouts at the time the boat hit some rocks and began to tilt.
It comes hours after recordings were released where Schettino can be heard making excuses as a coast guard official repeatedly ordered him to “get on board now,” according to a transcript of the conversation.
In a telephone conversation, the Italian coast guard official berates the captain, who is on a lifeboat and repeatedly says he doesn’t want to return to the ship even as passengers are still being evacuated.
The ship struck a rock Friday evening and capsized.
The officer tells Schettino to reboard and assess the needs of passengers: “It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses.”
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Schettino has insisted he stayed aboard until the ship was evacuated, but the recording of his conversation with Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco indicates he fled before all passengers were off — and then resisted De Falco’s repeated orders to return.
“You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear?” De Falco shouted in the audio tape, Fox News reported.
Schettino resisted, saying the ship was tipping and that it was dark. At the time, he was in a lifeboat and said he was coordinating the rescue from there.
De Falco shouted back: “And so what? You want go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!”
“You go aboard. It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses. You have declared the abandoning of the ship, now I am in charge,” De Falco shouted.
Capt. Francesco Schettino (EPA)
As the port official loses patience with the captain, he says, “Listen Schettino, you may have been saved by the sea but I can assure you I can make you go through a lot of trouble. Get on board now!”
Schettino is finally heard agreeing to reboard. It is unclear whether he did.
Schettino has been jailed for investigation of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck.
This comes as rescuers found five more bodies inside the wrecked Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia on Tuesday afternoon.
The bodies of four men and one woman, aged between 50 and 60, were found below the waterline in the stern of the ship by divers, a coastguard spokesman told reporters.
All five were wearing life jackets and were found together in the same part of the ship that the bodies of two men — Italian and a Spanish national — were discovered Sunday night.
Authorities said they were hoping to bring the bodies back to dry land before the end of the day, after which the search will be called off until Wednesday morning.
The discovery takes the death toll to 11, with 24 people still missing. Before the discovery, four crew members and 25 tourists were unaccounted for, including 14 German nationals, six Italians, two French couples, two US nationals and three people from Peru, India and Hungary, almost four full days after the ship hit a rock and keeled over off the coast of Tuscany.
The missing Americans are Minnesota couple Gerald and Barbara Heil, aged 69 and 70, of White Bear Lake, north of Minneapolis-St. Paul.
It was not clear whether the newly discovered bodies were crew members or passengers.
Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported late Monday that Schettino allegedly sailed close to Giglio’s rocky shores to please his head waiter, who comes from the island.
The head of the company that owns the vessel said Monday that it hit a rock as a result of an “inexplicable” error by Schettino, who was arrested Saturday along with first officer Ciro Ambrosio.
Meanwhile, Italian consumer rights association Codacons also announced on Tuesday that more than 70 passengers from the Costa Concordia joined a class action against the owner.
“Over 70 passengers who were on board the ship have joined the class action initiated by our association,” the head of Codacons, Carlo Rienzi, said in a statement.
“Our objective is to get each passenger at least €10,000 [$12,773] compensation for material damage and also for … the fear suffered, the holidays ruined and the serious risks endured,” he said.
The legal action will have to be judged admissible by a magistrate in a procedure that could take “some months,” according to the co-head of Codacons, Marco Ramadori.
With Newscore