Survivors of the Costa Concordia Mark 10 Years Since Fatal Shipwreck

Survivors and relatives of victims of the Costa Concordia disaster gathered on the dockside on the island of Giglio Wednesday as they arrived for a commemoration of the event.

Ten years ago, 32 people died when the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground with more than 4,000 passengers and crew on board.

Kevin Rebello was there to remember his brother Russel, who worked as a waiter on the vessel and tragically died in the incident.

"My brother did his duty. He lost his life protecting other people. I am proud of this. And I think he would be proud of what he did helping so many people," Rebello said.

He was joined by other relatives and survivors who hugged each other in a muted atmosphere as they remembered the terrible event.

On the night of January 13, 2012, Captain Francesco Schettino of the cruise liner decided to bring his ship dangerously close to the island of Giglio in a stunt known as an "inchino" – "salute" to the island.

The ship, a 112,000 ton liner, should have stayed two nautical miles out. Instead, it gashed its hull on a small group of rocks not far from shore.

The rocks smashed a 70-metre (230 foot) hole in the hull of the ship which lurched forward towards the port with water entering below deck, eventually the electricity went off and the ship began to tilt over onto its side.

What ensued for the thousands of passengers was a terrifying escape straight out of a scene from "Titanic."

With the electricity off and the luxury liner flipped on its side, passengers found themselves crawling up dark passageways, grabbing for life jackets, struggling to get into lifeboats that would not detach from the ship, and shimmying down ropes along the side.

Some passengers even jumped into the sea to swim to shore.

"We had eaten the first course and were getting ready to eat the second and suddenly we felt this big boom, a loud noise, and the lights went out, and pieces of furniture came off the wall, and we fell on top of each other. It was like an earthquake. Just imagine an earthquake with the lights out," said Ester Percossi, a survivor of the tragedy.

"We got up and with great effort went out on the deck and there we got the life vests - those that we could find - because everyone was grabbing them from each other to save themselves. There was no law, just survival and that is it," she recalled.

The cruise ship drifted, listed and capsized just off the island's port, making the rescue efforts more complex.

The Concordia's captain Francesco Schettino is now serving a 16-year prison sentence after he was convicted of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning the vessel during the chaotic and delayed evacuation.

Italy will mark the anniversary on Thursday, with a daylong commemoration, honoring the people who died, but also the extraordinary response by the people of Giglio who took in the Concordia's passengers and crew.

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