Captain’s mistress placed at the scene of the capsizing

ROME: A Moldovan dancer has admitted to officials investigating the Costa Concordia shipwreck that she is the lover of the vessel’s captain and was on the bridge with him when it ran aground, Italian media reported Friday.

Domnica Cemortan, 25, made the revelations during a five-hour long questioning session in Grosseto by prosecutors who are leading a probe into the January 13 disaster, Turinbased daily La Stampa reported.

“Yes, it’s true. I am in love with captain Francesco Schettino,” Cemortan said when quizzed as to why personal items belonging to her, including clothing and a beauty case, were found in the captain’s cabin by divers searching the Concordia’s wreck.

In previous media interviews, Cemortan had denied she was the married 52-year-old Schettino’s lover, and had described him as a family man who proudly showed people photographs of his daughter.

Cemortan previously denied being on the bridge the night of the accident.

Schettino is currently under house arrest and faces charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all the passengers were evacuated.

Prosecutors are also investigating the Concordia’s first officer, Ciro Ambrosio, for the accident in which 17 people have been certified dead.

On Friday, strong winds lashing much of northern and central Italy continued to hold up attempts to salvage the Concordia and the pumping of thousands of tons of potentially hazardous fuel from its tanks. Operations are unlikely to resume before tomorrow. – Sapa-dpa