Costa Concordia captain 'was distracted by guests on bridge'

London, Jan 24 (ANI): The captain of the Costa Concordia was distracted by guests he had invited onto the bridge when the luxury cruise ship rammed into rocks off the Italian coast, one of the ship's senior officers has claimed.

Silvia Coronica, the vessel's third officer, also told investigators that Francesco Schettino panicked in the aftermath of the crash, rushing "from one part of the bridge to the other."

"The people who came up to the bridge with Schettino were disturbing the ship's navigation," The Telegraph quoted Coronica, as saying.

"The maitre d'hotel was chatting, disturbing the steering, with a consequent impact on concentration," he added.

The fresh evidence emerged as the death toll from the disaster rose to 15 following the discovery of two more bodies, both believed to be women.

Meanwhile, Schettino is under house arrest and is facing charges of causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship and multiple counts of manslaughter after crashing his 1,000ft vessel into a rocky Island. (ANI)