Survivors of Costa Concordia shipwreck rally as trial begins

Survivors of the Costa Concordia shipwreck staged a protest yesterday on the second anniversary of the tragedy outside the trial of the luxury liner's captain, saying more blame should be put on the ship's owner, Costa Crociere, Italian media reported.

A few dozen protesters rallied in Grosseto in Tuscany, near the courtroom where Francesco Schettino is on trial for manslaughter and allegedly abandoning the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated.

"There is a lack of security on these ships. This trial is showing that the emergency systems that should have guaranteed passenger safety did not work," Massimiliano Gabrielli, a lawyer representing some of the survivors, was quoted by the ANSA news agency as saying.

Schettino, who was not present at yesterday's hearing in Grosseto, said in a written message that he felt "an indelible pain" over the disaster and was in a state of "profound mourning".

The captain is the only person on trial for the wreck.

Five others - four crew members and Roberto Ferrarini, the head of Costa Crociere's crisis unit - have negotiated plea bargains of up to 34 months in prison.

The judges and survivors alike stood in silence inside the court in Grosseto to remember the victims. Passengers came from as far away as Russia and Britain to attend the hearing, but it was adjourned almost immediately after starting because of a lawyers' strike.