ROME, May 22 (Reuters) - The captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which capsized off Italy’s west coast last year killing 32 people, will face trial for manslaughter as well as other charges, an Italian judge ruled on Wednesday.
The giant Costa Concordia flipped on its side outside the Tuscan port of Giglio in January last year after it struck rocks during a manoeuvre that brought it too close to the shore.
The accident triggered a chaotic night-time evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew from the 290-metre-long ship (951-ft), which still rests on a rock shelf outside the port.
Captain Francesco Schettino left the ship before all the ship’s crew and passengers had been taken ashore.
A judge in the Tuscan city of Grosseto ordered Schettino to be tried for multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and other charges, with the first hearing set for July 9, Schettino’s lawyer Francesco Pepe told Reuters.
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