Californians Survive Sinking Costa Concordia
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Including the California survivors, 126 Americans were aboard the doomed ocean liner as it sank into the sea like the Titanic with 4,235 passengers on board.
One of the world's largest passenger ships, the Costa Concordia was four miles off-course when it tragically hit the rocks and sank.
"Have you seen 'Titanic?' That's exactly what it was," declared Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles, California who survived the disaster-at-sea with her sister and parents.
The Southern California family, including senior citizens, now have torn-up knees and body bruises from their desperate crawl along vertical hallways and stairwells in the darkness while fighting with their last ounce of strength to survive.
"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing. We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls," her mom, Georgia Ananias, 61, recounted in sheer horror.
Mrs. Ananias started to cry as she remembered the moment when a South American father desperately handed her his 3-year-old daughter as the ship capsized. "Take my baby!" the girl's father had yelled to the businesswoman from Downey, California as the man lost his balance.
Northern California entrepreneurs Adam and Joanna Lynch of Placerville were watching a magic show on the cruise ship when they experienced the loud boom and vibrations of the ship hitting the rocks.Once the El Dorado County couple realized that the Costa Concordia was capsizing, Joanna Lynch started giving away life jackets to elderly and disabled passengers who were in wheelchairs.
The cruise ship had been allowed to run too close to the Italian coast and ran over rocks that ripped a 166-foot gash in the Costa Concordia's hull below the water line. The scraping sound and resulting vibrations were so loud that thousands of passengers were shocked into fear during a formal dinner.
As the 1,000-foot luxury liner took on water and began to capsize, many passengers panicked and jumped overboard for their lives in evening dresses and jewelry, with crew members diving after them into the dark, frigid water.
Passengers from the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, South Korea, Peru, France, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Austria, Russia, Hungary, India and the Philippines survived the maritime disaster, but some citizens of France, Spain, Italy and Peru lost their lives in the worst passenger liner disaster since the Titanic.
Captain Francesco Schettino, 52, a captain for 11 years, was arrested by Italian authorities after he abandoned ship while it was in distress. He did not initially send a MAYDAY distress signal when disaster struck. Eventually, the captain gave the order to abandon ship with 7 short whistles, but it was perhaps too late.
First Officer Ciro Ambrosio was also arrested by police, and the Italian Coast Guard has recovered the Black Box from the sunken cruise ship as an international investigation commences.
12 people aboard the Costa Concordia are still missing as prayer vigils continue worldwide.2012 commemorates the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912.
Unfortunately, there are thousands of new stories of death, survival, bravery, heroism, terror and daring rescues from another doomed voyage on a luxury ocean liner full of thousands of passengers instantly forced to fight for their lives --- certainly not the type of centennial anyone had anticipated.
Californiality gives thanks that our own Californians aboard the Costa Concordia cruise ship have survived the shipwreck and returned home safely to California.
However, all involved with this blog are ceaselessly praying for the 10 passengers and 2 crew members still missing and being remembered around the clock, including two Americans from Minnesota.
