Concordia Rescue Lacked Officers’ Leadership, Witness Says
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The deputy mayor of Giglio, who assisted in the rescue of the Costa Concordia after it hit rocks off Italy’s coast, told investigators it took him 20 minutes to find a senior officer on the ship and that he helped passengers to safety after it proved difficult to lower lifeboats.
Mario Pellegrini said he arrived near the accident scene about 11 p.m. on Jan. 13, as the first passengers were escaping from the vessel. That was more than an hour after Carnival Corp.’s Concordia struck a reef and began capsizing.