Russian passengers of the cruise ship Costa Concordia were not paying their way out of the sinking vessel, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Thursday.
Prominent Italian daily La Repubblica reported earlier that the Russians have allegedly paid off the crew to secure seats in lifeboats ahead of other passengers during the shipwreck on January 13.
But the Italian Civil Protection Department found no passengers were given preferential treatment during the rescue operation, ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
The ministry sent a letter of protest to La Repubblica’s owner, L'Espresso media holding, Lukashevich said. L'Espresso did not comment on his statement as of late Thursday.
Costa Concordia hit a reef and sank off the Italian coast in the Tyrrhenian Sea with some 4,200 people on board, including 111 Russians. Sixteen people were killed and about 20 are considered missing over the incident, which is tentatively blamed on errors by the captain. No Russians were reported hurt in the shipwreck.
