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WORLD NEWS Thursday 13 January 2022

10 years later, Costa Concordia disaster vivid for survivors

By TRISHA THOMAS and NI- the ship close too shore in
COLE WINFIELD Associated a stunt. He then delayed
Press an evacuation order until it
GIGLIO, Italy (AP) — Ten was too late, with lifeboats
years may have passed unable to lower because
since the Costa Concordia the ship was listing too
cruise ship slammed into much.
a reef and capsized off "I always said this will not
this Tuscan island. But for define me, but you have
the passengers on board no choice," Ananias said in
and the residents who wel- an interview from her home
comed them ashore, the in Los Angeles, Calif. "We all
memories of that harrow- suffer from PTSD. We had a
ing, freezing night remain lot of guilt that we survived
minute-to-minute vivid. and 32 other people died."
The dinner plates that flew Prosecutors blamed the
off the tables when the hull delayed evacuation order
first slammed into the rocks. and conflicting instructions
The blackout after the ship's given by crew for the cha-
engine room flooded and os that ensued as passen-
generators failed. The final gers scrambled to get off
mad scramble to evacu- the ship. The captain, Fran-
ate the listing liner and then cesco Schettino, is serving
then the extraordinary gen- a 16-year prison sentence
erosity of Giglio islanders Associated Press for manslaughter, causing
who offered shoes, sweat- and crew and then lived to the wall that marks that Centers for Disease Control a shipwreck and abandon-
shirts and shelter until the with the Concordia carcass date, as a before and af- last month warned people ing a ship before all the
sun rose and passengers for another two years until ter," he said, recounting across-the-board not to passengers and crew had
were ferried to the main- it was righted and hauled how he joined the rescue go on cruises, regardless evacuated.
land. Italy on Thursday is away for scrap. effort that night helping pull of their vaccination status, Ananias and her family de-
marking the 10th anniversa- "For us islanders, when we ashore the dazed, injured because of the risk of infec- clined Costa's initial $14,500
ry of the Concordia disaster remember some event, and freezing passengers tion. For Concordia survivor compensation offered to
with a daylong commemo- we always refer to wheth- from lifeboats. Georgia Ananias, the COV- each passenger and sued
ration that will end with a er it was before or after The anniversary comes as ID-19 infections are just the Costa, a unit of U.S.-based
candlelit vigil near the mo- the Concordia," said Mat- the cruise industry, shut latest evidence that pas- Carnival Corp., to try to
ment the ship hit the reef: teo Coppa, who was 23 down in much of the world senger safety still isn't a top cover the cost of their med-
9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. and out fishing on the jetty for months because of the priority for the industry. Pas- ical bills and therapy for the
The events will honor the when the darkened Con- coronavirus pandemic, is sengers aboard the Con- post-traumatic stress they
32 people who died that cordia listed toward shore once again in the spot- cordia were largely left on have suffered. But after
night, the 4,200 survivors, and then collapsed onto its light because of COVID-19 their own to find life jackets eight years in the U.S. and
but also the residents of Gi- side. outbreaks threatening and a functioning lifeboat then Italian court system,
glio who took in passengers "I imagine it like a nail stuck passenger safety. The U.S. after the captain steered they lost their case. q
Monkey business: Antwerp zoo put kids at ease for virus jab

ANTWERP, Belgium (AP) — Antwerp on Wednesday tents were set up, with pho-
The Belgian city of Antwerp made use of one its great- tos of zoo animals. To dis-
has put its faith in monkey est assets the zoo in the tract them inside the tent,
business to put kids at ease center of town which is one kids were given light point-
for their first COVID-19 jab. of the finest in Europe. ers to seek out the animals
With the expansion of the While adult vaccination they liked best while they
country's vaccination cam- centers focus on the con- got their shot.
paign to include children veyor belt principle to pro- If there was any pain, it
as young as 5, Belgian au- cess as many people in as quickly dissipated when
thorities are getting cre- short a time as possible, it they and their parents were
ative as they try to prevent takes more patience with allowed to stroll through the
kids getting spooked by the kids. zoo's greenhouse and visit
sight of vials and needles. Close to the zoo's entrance, the monkey enclosure.q
Associated Press specially designed safari