MUMBAI: The scene at the Mumbai airport on Thursday evening was emotionally charged as the crew members of the ill-fated cruise liner Costa Concordia arrived home with a vow to never again work in a cruise liner. More than facing the life and death situation it was the abandoning of the ship by its captain Francesco Schettino even before the rescue operations could commence.
“We are all very angry with the captain who abandoned the crew and the passengers at the most crucial hour. In fact, he was one of the first to jump the ship. It was the worst nightmare as we were on our own,” said Rahul Raghav who had no intentions of detaching from the bear hug of his parents.
Similar to the anger against the captain, crew was unanimous in their praise for the heroism of Russel Rebello, a resident of Vasai near Mumbai, who happened to be the only Indian to have gone missing. Rahul who worked as a bartender on the cruise liner said that Rebello was his friend and he did not know how to swim. He took on the task of helping passengers despite the fact that he was unwell.