Hundreds of people were still on the sinking Costa Concordia liner when the captain fled the ship in a lifeboat, a court has been told.

A trainee officer on board the Costa Concordia when it sank off an Italian island last year told a court that the captain did not fall off the stricken liner onto a lifeboat as he claims, but jumped to safety.

Francesco Schettino, captain of Italy’s doomed Costa Concordia cruise ship, has blamed the Indonesian helmsman for causing the accident that killed 32 people.

An Italian court has accepted plea bargains for five Costa Crociere employees over the shipwreck that killed 32 crew and passengers, convicting all of multiple manslaughter and negligence.

The Italian court trying the captain of the Costa Concordia heard grim details about how the 32 victims of the shipwreck drowned, some after diving or falling into the sea from the capsized cruise liner when lifeboats were no longer accessible.

The Italian court trying the captain of the Costa Concordia has heard grim details of how the 32 victims of the shipwreck drowned, some after diving or falling into the sea from the capsized cruise liner when lifeboats were no longer accessible.

The trial of the captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun in Tuscany, in a theatre converted into a courtroom to accommodate all the survivors and relatives of the 32 victims who want justice over the 2012 tragedy.

The captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia is due to go on trial in Italy today, some 18 months after the luxury liner ran aground with the loss of 32 lives.

The captain of the Costa Concordia has been ordered to stand trial over the shipwreck of the cruise liner, which struck a reef off Tuscany last year, killing 32 people.

Italy’s Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe, has accepted limited responsibility for the Costa Concordia disaster, as the employer of some of those under investigation over a shipwreck tragedy in which 32 people died.

Italian cruise line Costa Crociere has been fined €1m for the Concordia cruise ship sinking which killed 32 people.

An Italian prosecutor has formally requested a manslaughter charge against the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which crashed into a reef off Tuscany last year, killing 32 people.

Europe’s top cruise operator came under pressure at pre-trial hearings into the Costa Concordia disaster as captain Francesco Schettino faced survivors for the first time.

The former captain of the shipwrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia has arrived at a court in Italy to hear the evidence against him.

The captain of the stricken Costa Concordia cruise liner will attend pre-trial hearings this week where experts will present analysis of the events that led to the vessel hitting a rock off the Italian coast in January and the deaths of 30 people.

Experts have blamed the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship for the disaster in which 32 people died.

The captain of grounded cruise liner Costa Concordia said he tripped and fell from the listing vessel and never intended to abandon his passengers as details emerged about the dead and missing.

THE coastguard officer who ordered the captain of the capsized Italian cruise ship to go back aboard has unwittingly become an instant hero, credited with saving the national honour on one of its darkest nights.

The first victim from the Costa Concordia disaster was identified today - a 38-year-old violinist from Hungary who had been working as an entertainer on the stricken cruise ship.

Passengers rescued from the cruise liner that crashed into rocks off Italy spoke today of their shock as the ship’s captain was placed under house arrest.

“You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?” an enraged Italian coastguard chief shouted as the captain of the grounded Costa Concordia sat safe in a life raft and frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a reef off the Tuscan coast.

An Italian prosecutor has confirmed allegations from passengers and others that the captain of the cruise ship abandoned the stricken liner before all the passengers had left.

Italian state TV has reported that the captain of the Costa Concordia was being held for questioning by Grosseto prosecutors.

Survivors from a luxury cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over, leaving at least three dead and 69 people still unaccounted for, today described a chaotic evacuation, as plates and glasses crashed and they crawled along upended hallways trying to reach safety.

An Irish couple have been rescued from a cruise ship that ran aground off the Tuscan coast in Italy.

At least three people have died after a luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160ft gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel.

Irish actor Paudge Behan is being investigated over the murder of an elderly woman stabbed 13 times in her Tuscan villa, Italian police said today.

James Ellington failed to get a medal in last night’s 100m final at the IAAF World Junior Championships, but left the stadium in Grosseto with his head held high.