hello again to welcome to spotlight. on our to. and today we will meet the survivors of the wreck of the century. the mediterranean ship carrying four thousand people has been dominating international media for more than two weeks some are comparing it to the wrecked car the titanic exactly one hundred years ago now search and rescue operations continue as does the investigation into what happened meanwhile the captain and first officer are under arrest so what was it like the ship head and started to say true the crew failed. to show passenger safety. on the thirteenth of january the cost of.

their rock and eventually capsized off the island of gilio the sheeple scaring over forty two hundred people at the beginning of a seven day cruise when it ran aground evacuating the sinking ship took several hours and not everyone managed to get off safely the death toll has been rising with each day as new bodies are being discovered currently sixty not confirmed dead and sixty four injured three people trapped were rescued more than twenty four hours after the accident twenty people are still missing passengers on the costa concordia accused of being unprofessional and unable to conduct a proper rescue operation the captain of the ship fifty two year old french. has been brewing for the train some media suggested he directed to cool. to a friend. ski tina was detained shortly after the tragedy is not only accused of who

was in the accident by changing course but abandoning ship long before all the passengers were evacuated the ship's fuel tanks were almost too with it heat the rocks an environmental threat the dutch salvage company smit is currently pumping out that. man and wife didn't go off can. survive the incident and they're my guests in the studio today hello hello welcome to the program first it's great to see you here having survived your deal the main thing is that you're safe and sound and generally ok. we're doing our best not to lose our spirits our panic even though we have trouble sleeping at night i've been having trouble sleeping lately too for some reason must be abandoned marmont. from

the very beginning we were you on this cruise from its start why did you joined later and if so how much later. went aboard at the port of bit of a care and the ship crashed exactly two and a half hours after that so you weren't there from the start for us it was the beginning of our crew was as i understand them lying there makes round trips so different passengers start from different places. so it travels nonstop in circles like some movies in a cinema. exactly and you were supposed to get off into it of a kid a week later something like battle is going to. have a little person just were doing with a hit the reef what were you up to. there were two dinner we dined in the first rotation and then i went down to our cabin to call my mom to tell her we were doing fine. un don't do your cabin after dinner. your

cabin was below sea level not really a was the dining room located high above there were several restaurants and bars on the ship so different people ate at various places. our cabin was on the third deck . not that on the third right and our dinner was one floor on the fifth deck yes. so do miss those designing were even in the better situation than yours they were and it was easier for them to get out. it's really hard to hold you know as those who were in their cabins probably didn't get injured as badly as those in restrooms and bars. are you saying that the moment when the longing to hit the reef that was a real threat causing a major collapse. yes like a major car crash but yes it was like that because you know our glasses

laptops and cell phones. the tables would come who told you how can you explain this both ways hundreds of thousands of tons you would really feel that crash when it hit the rock was like crashing into a wall did you actually see that rock no i didn't. but well the size is almost the same as the ship was actually on the bottom close to shore rather than just a standalone rock the boat came too close to the star line where it wasn't supposed to be and was certainly felt like a really strong crash or shaking at that moment we were having a video talk with my mom on skype exactly. we were really warrant that my mom could see classes falling over my head. so we told her we just have to catch a lifeboat and then we'll call you back we did call her back quite quickly and tried to convince her that that was just an exercise. well i actually hope till the

very last moment that it was actually it as we had been warned about these daily exercises on the boat every passenger who arrived on board in a new port had to wear a life vest and get out to the nearest deck we were told that our actions it would be a supervised by professionals. being well disciplined individuals we thought to ourselves that maybe that's how they performed their drill that crash is very real to make sure we get it we actually grabbed our life vests and my husband suggested that we should bring warm clothes considering it was winter. cold even for italy not really summer weather it wasn't egypt or africa it was twelve. what about the water well the water was also about ten to twelve celsius least it wasn't ice cold not like in the titanic situation. exactly no icebergs there but

for likely dressed people it was still quite cold. i've heard of a curious fact that at the moment of the crash speakers on board were playing the titanic movie theme song is that true well it is even though it wasn't exactly at the moment of the accident. we heard the music in the restaurant while we were eating and indeed they were playing the titanic movie theme song live but she would look nothing ever happens by accident the way you got to spend very little time on the boat. when did you realize that the boat was sinking was that immediately. when did you realize it was time to rescue your wife. i had a feeling that something was seriously wrong when the ship started listing. how much time as. well the troops. started

listing. twenty minutes. on the deck wearing your life vests prepared for the drill well indeed we were and in about twenty minutes i suggested well you know because we jumping overboard well as we left our cabin dressed in our dreams t. shirts life and sneakers i just suggested that we should tie alesha's ties. i was actually against tying our laces as i saw a different scenario in my head we might actually have to jump overboard nobody was supervising us we spend an hour and a half on the deck and speakers were saying don't worry everything is fine when you felt the crash and when told on the disc just stand there for an hour and a home. went out very quickly waiting to see what happens next yes yes. on the side where the boat was listing or the other one went out on the right. so it was listing on that side the one it lies on now it was fortunate for us as well as the

fact that we weren't in the restaurant or on the very top desk where it was hard to get down and how would the other passengers responding oh we're in the home where they panicking well actually they responded in different ways most were certainly concerned but things were more. lifeboats. did they think it would all turn out all right did you see the shore must have been scary yes we did it was very scary it was a large ship at the height of several story building the water when you start thinking that you have to jump overboard you have your abilities and realize that you don't feel like jumping from this height at all. as you may lose your earrings for instance. as well as an arm or a leg perhaps people were slightly comforted by the fact that they could see the land but the. our deck i saw only one or two crew members who were actually aware

of what was going on i thought. is that true that the entire crew were asian nation and so we hardly saw any of them filipino most of the printers right. crew members were from the philippines. and most of them were capturing staff but. they were. there when we probably saw only three or four crew members how could you tell they were a crew by the uniforms they wore special vests and were acting a bit different you said that when they lowered the lifeboats and served up some passengers to have an opposite effect we got there by accident only. people were spread across the deck and we were standing near that place where a left boat was leaving the ship. and it was desex and or the third want to go on. no one of the first and you go out in the crowd actually pushed in it quite nicely

how many people can carry a hundred i think around a hundred or so i didn't say one of the lifeboats rescued you exactly. but there was no panic things were moralist peaceful the panic began in the lifeboat why so. people responded differently for instance i still cannot sleep at nights there was a young lady on our lifeboat who was so bored and so anxious that she was trying to talk everyone into jumping off the boat can't you see that we're sinking. others were just sitting quietly on their benches and waiting for help we were all well aware that we were sinking but nobody agreed to jump with her. and. costa concordia. both like movies back should be we'll continue this interview off to a short break. we

have seen the damage it has done to our environment mark and mcauliffe what the park props we do not want any more of. our core system is just that was a dismal experience and i'm just i'm just appalled but that's allowed to go on. eating this unfortunately because we don't know what's in it there's no labeling there for it being used like the board to the experiment being used as guinea. we have more questions than we have had it's. like.

welcome back to spotlight it's just a reminder that my guests on the show today are denise and all the guys good evening men a wife who survived the costa concordia accident in the mediterranean. we were talking about the moments when the rescue began and you said you hadn't seen anyone from the crew at the store does that mean that the rescue operation. because you say that it was. not organized at all what do you mean what do you hope for

take away breakfast there were no it's just sticks and all we tourists have been totally misinformed about what was going on. so we had no idea whether ronan were not really gave us an instruction as we were sending in waiting nobody told us to go out on the deck we did that on our own following our instincts and judging by what we saw and what we understood when we crawled out onto the deck and please know that we had been on board the slander for only two hours we had hardly any time to find our way in that city so it was mere lack we went out to the that's important yes for the boats when i did the lower not the upper one it's a mere accident of all the people who happened to be on over the next with a less lucky my sled all of us have seen the titanic movie was this is a time when the passengers try to elbow they way to the lifeboats we could see all the passengers later we ended up in the same hotel and we could discuss things and

exchange our impressions as to what happened after that some were rescued when it was already morning there was not enough room in the boats as our friends and travel say the situation was made worse by the fact that it was very difficult to pull the bows down on the water from the upper decks especially on the port side it was just impossible it was raised in the that is probably why there was a short supply of lifeboats or maybe because they have a creation began at least ninety minutes later than it should have. because it's. just like me when we were children must have read a lot of books about seafarers following the law of the sea the captain is the last person to leave the vessel. notes in the news that captain. ship before the rescue operation ended is that a confirmed fact and do you think the crew indeed fled the ship in fear and confusion. you

know as from the personally i did not see the crew flee. because we could not see the crude south please don't get us wrong exactly according to my own experience in sea farin on a commercial vessel i can say that there was no one responsible for the engine of this lifeboat i saw a crew member climb into the boat he could hardly start the engine. besides when the boat was being pulled down to the water the descent was not smooth which clearly indicated it was not someone well practiced who did that. on top of that. before moving to the pier. we had been circling and circling for

a long time. but you know in other words the boat was driven not by a specialist that's true. so the passenger had been trained but not the true. scary. i'd like to ask this the british and italian press are reported to balance alleged attempts by a rich person just like in the movie titanic seats in the lifeboats and in particular rich russian man you just. have a point here could you confirm and enjoy this more soup did you see something of the kind. i pondered a lot about that as for us we did not see that what is more from the point of common sense it's hardly possible at all it is possible on the contrary to explain why such rumors appear when. the situation was very stressful not only for us but for the inhabitants of their own the giglio some may have seen something maybe some

old stories got added and the legend was created one should bear in mind that this cruise was mostly for economy class best interests there were no particular reach russians on this ship. same as no italian or english it was all rather middle class . yes there were families with children nothing like a man with five mistresses nothing of the kind nobody went on a spending spree i could not see any lady in an even interest i had seen all the russians one after the other the most fancy dress was a black cocktail dress. no rolex watches nearly nobody had casts actually and there was no need for it only cards were used right. even if there was a possibility of bribing someone it would have created quite a problem just. imagine a thousand passengers on the deck several shops five to six crew how do you imagine

paying a bribe. how would you reach a person elbowing your way through. the very wish to save one so even if the money's quite understandable why not save oneself one's wife and children the other thing is that it was technically impossible actually i think it's impossible. to do you would have just been trampled but people i know all behaved quite decently in our own group three girls and one japanese gentleman as we call him between us. what we observed was quite the opposite. of. this one of them confessed in a whisper she could not swim at all. they left those people they thought needed to make ation first of all forward before them. the elderly people children.

there was a pregnant woman and when they told me that they let the pregnant woman go first i stopped being aware of the events and it took me several seconds to ponder as to why it had not occurred to me that i was not as good as a should being as it turned out it did not occur to me. as a room and your instincts might be stronger than your thoughts it happens and it's generally correct maybe well we took care of an elderly couple aged about eighty from germany i think a very charming couple there was sitting and then bracing each other very quietly and modestly and they went through this trouble bravely and the elderly couple holding each other while facing the catastrophe the so sore reminds me of a scene from titanic. they were really very few with similarities this time it was very different i'm not sure if this would help you sleep. but they say these two contests are fees were so much alike that had it happened further away from the

shore and in colder waters the consequences would be much worse than the titanic did you know that i'm inclined to believe that the water was warm into the nature of the rupture and other factors were very similar while regarding the saw as can the quarter was more than twenty times larger than titanic and the rescue wasn't organized at all whereas on titanic it was from what i know as you've mentioned you've left all your belongings behind in your cabin with the other passengers trying to recover their things we saw one individual managed to bring his small willy back to the lifeboat by the best point i couldn't even think about it as my head was taking by other issues but you're not actually allowed to do this all russian tourists were left with absolutely no belongings at all we had no cash no ideas and so is this forbidding to take your luggage when being rescued are all people incapable of thinking about it in these situations did you think about

running back to get your luggage. there weren't any instructions given at all passengers were completely unaware of the real state of affairs like how dangerous it was all when they have occasion would start i think passengers demonstrated a lot of sensibility when they got out to the deck. even if they wanted to go back and get their belongings or i.d.'s my husband suggested that maybe we should run quickly and get our stuff money and so on but i was totally against it. so you left without any i.d.'s our i.d.'s were taken away from us immediately and bacon italy no on the ship when we got aboard oh so they took away your post to give them back at the end of your cruise yes there is an unspoken rule regarding tourists from former soviet republics to take away international passports when they board cruise liners which i. i actually find quite humiliating why do they do it perhaps the europeans are afraid of

a large inflow of russian tourists but they aren't afraid of all durance for instance as you've already made what else what if we decide to state somewhere with our passports in hand only see they wanted to ensure you didn't get off the boat somewhere so this way you could only get off with a migration card in hand so no you're waiting to get your postpones back from the tel in company now we don't we went to the consulate where they issued a special paper so that we could return from there on our passports became invalid so they can just keep them now we are using our passports waste means having to pay a lot of money and all of running around getting different papers together it's a complicated process in our country it is indeed. a right. in your view among the passengers spend several hours in this listing boat with this some people who are doomed to die. or do you thing that everybody could have been rescued theoretically speaking exposed. i don't understand how they could not have rescued

everyone considering the liner saying no further than half a kilometer from land in the warm weather and it didn't seem completely in the heart of europe there must have been enough lifeboats for everyone had the rescue operation been a twist somewhat organized or some instructions this way i believe we would not have lost anyone as a form of. what do you think most of happened to those who died. well you know firstly. when they began reporting about some failures over the intercom. they said they had some generator related problems. but. we should means the. ship was on the control. secondly there were

electric failures after the crash if off. and cabin safes and doors were blocked automatically. not all cabins had the windows or balconies by the way. and some cabins located on the inside pont. had doors only. so when the doors were locked these people got trapped in the well you know some probably couldn't open their doors. also life that's can be tricky they can save your life or cause death. and in many cases you have to dive down under in order to get out.

of it which is basically impossible when you are wearing your best but it was the thank you very much for being with us just a reminder my guest today we're doing these go off and leave you at. the costa concordia direct and that's it for now from hong spotlight who didn't come until then stay on our team and take a place of. syria's

revolt which is lasted almost a year edges closer to the council as armed opposition fighters tighten their control of the outskirts of damascus meanwhile the united nations security council is considering another motion on a possible resolution to the conflict but with sharp differences among members on how to end of a prolonged bloodshed. libya's new leaders are accused of torturing and killing detainees by a humanitarian aid organization medicine sounds here it's pulling out of misrata

after seeing evidence of gross abuses of detainees raising questions among human rights groups about the people nato helped bring to power. plus cyber uproar thousands gather outside the polish presidential palace in the country seventh day of protests against an international web anti-piracy pact which activists say threaten internet freedom and which warsaw has signed up to their french and he has also quit over the so-called calling the controversial treaty pressure raids. next heavyweight conversations of the presidential campaign debate within the republican party and lots more you know our team is big picture that's with tom hartman from our washington studios.