Karwar/Udupi, January 22: Four people from coastal Karnataka, who were among the 200 Indian survivors in the Italian cruise ship tragedy, have returned home safely.
Tony Fernandes, Xavier D'costa, and Wilson Fernandis, crew members of “Costa Concordia” that ran aground off the coast of Italy last week, have returned to Karwar. While Ajay Quadros (29), a native of Shirva had returned home on Friday through Mangalore airport.
Narrating the incident, they said they were lucky enough to survive. The joint efforts of crew members averted a big tragedy, Mr. Tony said.
According to them, the vessel left the Civitavecchia port in Italy on Friday night. There were 4,200 people on board, including crew members. At 9.45 p.m. (2 a.m. Indian Standard Time), there was a big noise and the vessel started leaning, they said.
After some time, power went off and the vessel stopped moving. Mr. Wilson said the captain blew the accordion which warned that the vessel was sinking.
Mr. Tony said water entered the engine room. Panic-stricken people began calling the control room, but the reply was to keep cool, he said. Then, the crew members rushed to help the passengers and gave them lifejackets, he said.
Mr Ajay Quadros, who has been working for Spain Dining Restaurant run by Costa Crociere for the last four years, said that he was on duty on the ship when it hit a rock on January 13 and sunk.
Of the 1,200 staff, 202 were from India, including 12 from Karnataka. There were 35 people from Goa, he said.
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