Earlier this week Italy marked the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia shipwreck disaster with commemorations on Isola del Giglio off Tuscany, as RTÉ News reports.
Survivors joined local residents and relatives to remember those lost and give thanks to local residents who gave them shelter on the night of 13 January 2012.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, one Irish couple were among the more than 4,000 passengers and crew who were evacuated from the vessel after it struck a sandbank near the island. Thirty-two people died in the disaster that ensued.
It was a further two-and-a-half years before the cruise liner was refloated as part of a pioneering international salvage operation.
The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, was convicted of multiple counts of manslaughter in connection with the incident. He began his 16-year prison sentence in 2017.
Meanwhile, the ship’s crew were recognised for their “courage and professionalism” in response to the disaster, going above and beyond during what was a hazardous nighttime evacuation.
One of those who survived, Ester Percossi, told a memorial on Thursday: “We come here today to remember, most importantly, those who are no longer with us and to relive the hell that we went through and try in some way to exorcise it.”
RTÉ News has much more on the story HERE.
