Italy court awards Costa Concordia passenger over $100,000

ROME — An Italian tribunal has ordered Costa Crociere cruise enactment to wage 92,700 euros ($105,000) to a rider who was aboard the Costa Concordia erstwhile it crashed and capsized disconnected Tuscany successful 2012, successful 1 of the fewer civilian lawsuits to person reached a verdict against the company.

The Genoa tribunal recognized that rider Ernesto Carusotti suffered post-traumatic accent arsenic a effect of the disaster, which killed 32 people, according to the Codacons user radical which represented him.

Costa, which is portion of the U.S.-based Carnival Corp., declined to remark Wednesday. In a connection to The Associated Press, Costa said it reserved the close to respond “through the astir due channels.”

Some 4,200 passengers and unit were aboard the Concordia erstwhile it slammed into a reef Jan. 13, 2012, disconnected Tuscany’s Giglio island. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year situation condemnation aft helium was convicted of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning the vessel. Prosecutors accidental Schettino intentionally brought the vessel excessively adjacent to enactment successful a stunt, and past abandoned the listing liner portion passengers and unit were inactive aboard.

During Schettino’s trial, Costa told the Florence tribunal it had paid retired 84 cardinal euros successful compensation to passengers, unit and relatives of the 32 dead, according to Italian media reports astatine the time. But a tiny percent of radical refused the compensation bundle and pursued lawsuits.

According to Codacons, Genoa Judge Paolo Gibelli ruled that Costa Crociere was liable not lone for the shipwreck itself but for the traumatic acquisition that Carusotti suffered. It ordered Costa wage Carusotti 77,000 euros successful damages positive 15,692 euros successful ineligible fees.

In a statement, Codacons said the grant was a “very important victory” since it showed the “total incongruity” of Costa’s compensation bundle to astir of the victims.

The capsized Concordia was eventual righted from the reef and past floated to the mainland wherever it was turned into scrap.