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Captain 'too calm' in Costa Concordia crash

AFP
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Captain 'too calm' in Costa Concordia crash
Francesco Schettino's trial began in July. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

An Italian crew member testified on Monday that Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino was "too calm" during the cruise ship tragedy that claimed 32 lives last year.

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"It was too calm on the bridge considering what was happening," said Giovanni Iaccarino, describing at Schettino's trial the events after the ship hit rocks off the island of Giglio on the night of January 14th 2012.

"We were telling the bridge that everything was out of order," he told the court in Grosseto, the city nearest to the site of the crash, where the trial against Schettino began in July.

Iaccarino went down to the engine room to see for himself after the impact of the crash, as water flooded into the ship through a gash in its side.

"It seems they did not realize the gravity of the situation," he said, adding: "They were saying 'okay, received' but they were not giving orders."

He said he saw Schettino later, as the ship keeled over, and that "he was trying to help but he seemed lost, he did not seem the person I knew".

The Costa Concordia hit a group of rocks near the shore of Giglio with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board and keeled over.

The trial is set to last for months longer, with hundreds of witnesses expected to testify.

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