The captain of the Costa Concordia has called the cruise ship disaster that cost 32 lives a "banal accident" in a TV interview for which he was reportedly paid £55,000 (NZ$107,000).
Francesco Schettino, 52, said he did not believe the incident was a crime, and claimed that at the time he was not in charge of the ship - although it later emerged he had told a senior colleague: "I ****ed up."
He is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship after the luxury liner, carrying 4,000 passengers and crew including 30 Britons, struck a rock and capsized off the Italian island of Giglio in January.
The hour-long interview was broadcast on Italy's Canale 5, owned by ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The channel was bombarded with complaints over the alleged fee, although it denied handing over any cash.
Schettino was dubbed Captain Coward after he said he had "tripped and fell" into a lifeboat while dozens of passengers were still on board the Concordia. In the interview he said the incident was "a banal accident in which there was a breakdown in the interaction of human beings".
