Costa Concordia: British Diver 'Stole From Wreck'

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

A British diver is among four people held by police after they were caught "red-handed" on the wreck of the Costa Concordia hunting for souvenirs, police say.

The 42-year-old London man, who has not been named, and three others - a Dublin man, 35, and two South Africans, 24 and 26 - were all staff of the salvage group Titan which had been employed in the laborious operation to raise the Costa Concordia from the seabed.

Police said the men were spotted by CCTV cameras positioned around the vessel and a boat was immediately dispatched to the scene to investigate before the divers were caught with a rucksack.

Titan has now dismissed all four men and they have been bailed by authorities in Grosseto until they appear before a court at a later date accused of theft and of breaching a sealed crime zone.

Lt Elisabette Spoti, of the paramilitary Carabinieri police, said: "The men were spotted by CCTV positioned facing the Concordia and the security firm employed alerted us and Titan as to the unauthorised presence of the four men.

Titan was employed to raise the Concordia from the seabed

"They were caught red-handed with the rucksack and the suspicion is they were trying to take items from the ship as souvenirs.

"They should not have been anywhere near the vessel as it is still a crime scene and as such sealed off.

''When they were held they had with them in their possession a rucksack with the Costa Concordia emblem on it.

"They had no permission to be on the ship and they were caught at 1.30 in the morning when no salvage operation was ongoing.

"We are also carrying out checks to establish what exactly the role of the four men held was during the salvage operation."

Lt Spoti refused to say whether there were other items inside the rucksack.

Thirty-two people died in the disaster

She said the matter was now in the hands of the prosecutor at Grosseto where their trial will be held.

Lt Spoti added they were found by deck eight, named Portugal, of the 13-deck ship and that area has several outside cabins as well as executive staterooms - and all of them have safes inside.

Another police source said: "The men said they were just looking for a few souvenirs and that they had no intention of taking anything personal, expensive or that would be of use to the investigation but that is not the issue. It is still a crime scene."

Titan said in a statement: "Four employees have been dismissed after they were identified onboard the Costa Concordia without permission and in a zone that is off limits.

The 290-metre Costa Concordia struck a reef off Giglio

"The matter is now in the hands of the local authorities."

It is not the first time that the wreck has been targeted by thieves - three months after she ran aground divers discovered that the ship's iconic brass bell, engraved with her name and the date she was launched had been stolen.

The 290-metre Costa Concordia luxury liner, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, struck a reef off the island of Giglio in January 2012 after captain Francesco Schettino changed course in order to carry out a sail by salute.

Thirty-two people died in the disaster and last month the ship was pulled upright after a laborious operation lasting more than a year - and the remains of one of the two people still missing were discovered in the cruise liner.

Schettino is currently on trial accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a disaster and abandoning a ship with passengers and crew still onboard.

Meanwhile authorities have given permission for divers to open the hundreds of cabin safes that have now become accessible since the ship was straightened so that possessions can be reunited with passengers.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Costa Concordia: British Diver 'Stole From Wreck'

Dengan url

http://buangdwiet.blogspot.com/2013/11/costa-concordia-british-diver-stole.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Costa Concordia: British Diver 'Stole From Wreck'

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Costa Concordia: British Diver 'Stole From Wreck'

sebagai sumbernya