1 FERNANDO TOFANELLI

have enough lifeboats because some appeared to be under water from the ship leaning over.

“Fortunately, I was above the water line, but I could see the waters climbing higher towards us. Some of the crew didn’t seem to even know how to release the lifeboats, or even start the lifeboat engines once they were down on the water. The crewman in charge of our lifeboat was absolutely ashen-faced, he just didn’t know what to do.”

Mr Tofanelli, a 38-year-old Italian studying English in London, said it took two hours for the lifeboats to dock at the island of Giglio, where they found shelter inside the local church. Passenger The second dinner sitting was taking place in the Milano restaurant (pictured below) in the stern of the ship as it crashed into rocks. As many as half of the 12 confirmed dead were discovered in the vicinity of the two-storey restaurant on Decks 3 and 4, which could seat up to 775 people.

Mr Tofanelli was with family and friends when they heard a loud bang. He said: “At first I thought it was something mechanical with the engine, but after a few seconds we felt the ship starting to lean over from one side to the other. Plates and tables were flying all over the place, and people were falling over as the tilting got worse. People were shouting and screaming and it was absolute chaos.

“The crew left it until the very last moment to begin boarding people on to lifeboats. As a result, precious time was lost, and in the panic people began jumping into the water. The longer they left it to launch the lifeboats, the worse the ship was listing in the water. People seemed to be trapped in the decks on the side of the ship that was under water, and where I was standing we could see the water getting higher and higher.

“While we were still in the dining room, the crew basically disappeared, and it was left to a few Thai waiters, who didn’t speak English, to try to keep us calm.

“After about an hour, the ship finally sounded several blasts on the horn, and that was the signal to go to the lifeboats, but by now people were pushing each other to get out of the way, and some were leaping over the side into the sea. They didn’t