Grieving relatives mark Italy shipwreck anniversary

Grieving relatives of the 32 victims of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster laid flowers by the giant wreck under a leaden sky yesterday at the start of an emotional commemoration on the Italian island of Giglio one year after the tragedy. Salvage workers on a tugboat also used a crane to lower into the sea a piece of the enormous rock that the Costa Concordia crashed into and then tore from its base before veering sharply and keeling over with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board. "This is very difficult for us," said Maddelein Soria, 35, the sister of Erika Fani Soria Molina, a Peruvian waitress on the ship who perished. "This is something that will stay with us our whole lives. I am here to pay tribute to my sisters. I feel as if I am with her again," she told AFP. Twelve of the victims on the luxury liner were from Germany, seven from Italy, six from France, two from Peru, two from the United States, one from Hungary, one from India and one from Spain. Survivors of the disaster who came for the ceremony re-lived the panic of that night, when hundreds jumped into the freezing water, clambered down a rope ladder in the dark or were evacuated by helicopter after several lifeboats failed to deploy. "We came because we wanted to express our gratitude. We survived," said Ronald Dots from Spain, who was enjoying a Mediterranean cruise with his wife Viviana and their son when tragedy struck. "We will never forget," he said. French survivor Jacques Masson said: "The more time passes, the more I feel traumatised. "I didn't feel it that night because my only aim was to get off the ship.... I know I will never come back to this island," he said. Another French survivor, Daniele Dubuc, broke down in tears upon stepping off a ferry — the first time she had been back on a ship since that night. "We experienced an enormous catastrophe and avoided the worst. I think it's important to be here... I think about the ship all the time," she said. Dubuc said she and her husband loved ballroom dancing, but that "the tragedy has made us lose the will to dance." Many said they also came to thank local residents who rushed to pluck shivering survivors from the water and brought them food and blankets. Ship owner Costa Crociere, Europe's biggest cruise operator, had asked survivors in a letter to stay away from the ceremony on the island because of a lack of space, infuriating many who said they wanted to show solidarity with victims' families. Costa Crociere will mark the day by holding masses in the chapels of all its vessels around the world and flying their flags at half mast. In the countries of origin of many of the crew members, the company is also organising Catholic masses in Lima and Manila, Muslim rites in Bali and Jakarta, Hindu services in Goa and Mumbai and a Buddhist ceremony in Shanghai. Among those attending the ceremony on Giglio was coast guard official Gregorio De Falco, who upbraided the ship's infamous captain Francesco Schettino with an expletive in a phone call when the man dubbed "Captain Coward" refused to get back on the ship to aid the evacuation. "I had to be here to be close to the families and the people," De Falco told reporters. Worshippers will attend a mass later Sunday in the same church in the port that served as a temporary refuge for many of the survivors that night, where the local priest will display objects like discarded blankets and life jackets. After a minute of silence at 2045 GMT, the exact time the ship crashed, all the fishing boats in this seafaring community of 1,500 souls will sound their sirens in tribute to the victims. The 290-metre (951-ft) liner crashed into a group of rocks just off Giglio, veered sharply and keeled over just as many passengers were sitting down for supper on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise. Salvage work coordinators on Saturday said an unprecedented $ 400 million (300 million euro) operation to refloat and remove the ship for scrapping will be completed by September this year. Ten people are being investigated for manslaughter including Schettino, who is accused of causing the accident by changing the route of the ship to perform a "salute" manoeuvre near the island.