Cruise liner mishap survivors reach Hyderabad
Hyderabad: Seven survivors from Andhra Pradesh of the cruise liner Costa Concordia that capsized off the Italian coast arrived here on Thursday evening. Two more survivors from the State are expected to arrive in the next few days.
A large gathering of family members, relatives, friends were at the Rajiv Gandhi airport to receive them. Recalling the incident, Srikanth, Suresh Chary, Benjamin and Sudhir told reporters that it was around 9.30 pm the accident occurred.
The emergency lights on the ship flashed within in a gap of few minutes, they feared something worst would happen. But luckily most of them managed to escape.
Suresh Chary from Nacharam injured his hand while trying to save fellow passengers and crew members.
There were a total of 203 Indians on board, one passenger and 202 crew members. Except one who is till missing, all Indians are safe. Eleven people are confirmed dead and 22 are still missing when the 114,500 tonne Italian cruise ship struck a rock and sunk off near the Tuscan island on January 13.
The Indian Embassy gave them 100 euros each and free air tickets to fly back home.
While thankful for being saved from the sinking ship, Indian crew members rued the loss of the Costa Concordia, which was their source of income.
In spite of the trauma of the accident, most of them commented that they were willing to go back to the cruise liners because of the good pay involved.
News Posted: 20 January, 2012
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