The captain accused of cowardice for leaving the Costa Concordia after it ran aground in the Mediterranean, killing 11 passengers, has told investigators he ‘tripped’ and fell into a lifeboat and could not escape.
Captain Francesco Schettino, who is currently under house arrest on manslaughter charges, gave the explanation to a magistrate during three hours of questioning, the Daily Mail reports.
The Italian has been heavily criticised after a taped conversation with a port official revealed the captain had left the boat and was reluctant to return.
Under questioning Schettino maintained he did not abandon ship as frightened passengers scrambled to lifeboats.
“I didn't even have a lifejacket because I had given it to one of the passengers — I was trying to get them into the lifeboats in an orderly fashion," Schettino told Magistrate Valeria Montesarchio at a court in Grosseto.
"All of a sudden the boat listed between 60-70 degrees, I tripped and ended up in one of the lifeboats. That's why I was in there."
The captain, who has been called the most hated man in Italy, has conceded he did make an error by sailing so close to the island of Giglio but still insists that he saved thousands of lives.
The new claims come as divers temporarily suspend their search for survivors after the stricken ship slipped a few centimetres from the rocks, prompting fears it could plunge 100m to the bottom of the sea.
At least 11 people have died and dozens are still missing after the massive ship hit rocks and capsized late Friday.
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