Costra Concordia Captain in Court For Pre-trial

Rome - According to The Irish Times, Francesco Schettino, the captain of Costa Concordia, the luxury liner which ran aground off Tuscan in the island of Giglio, appeared in court yesterday in Grosseto. The said sea accident took 32 lives, and the reopening of the pre-trial hearings into the shipwreck opened another chaper of pain and loss for the survived families.

Reportedly, Capt Schettino abandoned Costa Concordia long before many of the passengers. He had been ridiculed and questioned by many for the incident.

After the pre-trial hearing, Capt Schettino and Lucian Castro, a survivor of the accident, were seen talking. Schettino hoped that the "truth would be ascertained." Capt Schettino filed a case against his former employer, Costa Croceire, for the wrongful and malicious dismissal. He asked for back pay and reinstatement to the job.

No date has been set for the trial proper of the case - and it would not probably begin until next year. Schettino, and eigtht others, including Costa Concordia's officers and Costa Croceire company's officials, are facing multiple counts of manslaughter, abandoning ship, and ship.

Some of the questions that should be settled in court include: Why Schettino sailed the ship too close an island? Did the officers of the ship failed to sound "Abandon Ship" alarm? Who was in charge of the ship when it struck rock off the island?

Read more at: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/1016/1224325298033.html