Francesco Schettino, captain of the wrecked Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia, may wish he had gone down with his ship. Schettino has been arrested on multiple charges related to the huge ship running aground Friday. The charges include suspicion of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck.
Regional prosecutors believe Schettino deliberately ordered the ship to take a route between the Tuscan coast and the island of Giglio that caused it to strike a rock and begin to sink.
Europe1 reports a pair of French tourists and a Peruvian crew member drowned when the ship ran aground Friday night. Up to 70 people were still missing after panicked passengers and crew members jumped ship when the Concordia ran into trouble around dinner time on January 13.
Authorities–including the Italian coast guard–are still investigating.
Schettino was in jail Saturday and awaiting interrogation.
UPDATE
This is video of the moment things began to go south aboard the Costa Concordia on Friday night. There’s nothing subtle about it. We’ve removed the video due to legitimate questions about its provenance.
UPDATE 2
We’ve added an amateur video acquired by Russia Today, taken during the rescue operation. Pure chaos.
via Amateur video: Shocked Costa Concordia passengers escape sinking liner – YouTube.
