10 ANDREA CAROLLO

until we got out and we looked through the window and saw the water coming in.”

Mr Costa said he and his colleagues tried to keep passengers calm while the lifeboats were launched, but, as panic set in, some people began to push each other.

“It took them a long time to be able to launch the lifeboats because [the ship] was really tipped to one side,” he said. “People panicking and pushing each other didn’t help at all. So we were all trying to keep people calm, but it was just impossible – no one knew what was going on.”

Mr Costa, who returned to Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, said the boat had tilted so much that passengers jumping into the sea faced only a short drop. “Some people pretty much just decided to swim because they were not able to get on the lifeboats.”

Third Officer Asleep in his cabin at the back of Deck 3 when the Costa Concordia crashed, Andrea Carollo leapt out of bed and dressed. Water was already rushing down the corridor, and when he went to his post in the engine room, the engines were beginning to flood.

“Within 15 minutes, the engine room told the bridge that there was nothing to be done,” he said.

He then reported to his muster point, a lifeboat for 35 crew members. “Unlike the captain, we were there until the end. We did all we could to avoid catastrophe,” he said.

Alberto Fiorito, 28, another engineer, said: “We didn’t wait for the captain to give the order to abandon ship. We saw how serious the situation was, and we did it ourselves.”