The moment Captain Francesco Schettino, commander of the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship, refused to return to his vessel was recorded in their radio exchange.
Mr Schettino is in jail, accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. He denies all wrongdoing and was questioned by magistrates on Tuesday.
The audio recording, on Corriere della Sera's website, reflected the chaos and confusion in the minutes after the Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, hit a rock off the Tuscany coast on Friday night and keeled over. Eleven people were killed and 24 are still missing.
The recording is full of background noises such as radio static, beeps and background noise of people and confusion. Some of the exchanges went as follows: |