The old adage says that the captain goes down with his ship, but in the case of the Costa Concordia, survivor accounts allege that Captain Francesco Schettino and his crew abandoned the sinking cruise liner while hundreds of passengers remained on board, according to CNN.
Captain Schettino reportedly had a back-and-forth with the Port Authority, who told him to "Get on board on the ship" and to report "how many people there are," per audio released in Corriere della Serra and translated by The Telegraph.
Infrared video shot by the Italian coast guard and published by The Daily Mail shows passengers aboard the sinking cruise ship sliding down a rope to safety, one by one. Per the report, one French passenger, Daniele Perruchon, said children were screaming, "I don't want to die," as the crew pushed past them, trying to save themselves.
Andrea Davis, a woman from Calgary, Canada, on holiday with her husband, Laurence, described the ordeal to The Calgary Herald.
"People were stampeding and bodies were flying and crushing into walls and doors were flying off hinges and glass was flying from the upper levels," Davis said.
Davis' husband gave a more succinct description to the Calgary Herald.
"It was dog eat dog," Laurence Davis said.
American passenger Karen Camacho and her husband, Luis Hernandez, were aboard the Costa Concordia and escaped via lifeboats, according to USA Today. But even since escaping the wreckage, Camacho has described the resulting days as less than ideal, having abandoned the ship with no money.
"The (U.S.) Embassy sent taxis, and we got temporary passports," Camacho told USA Today. "We have not heard from Costa. I think they are paying for the hotel, but they have done nothing (else)."
More news came Tuesday that five additional bodies had been found, raising the official death total to 11, the Associated Press reports.
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