French investigators are opening manslaughter allegations against the Carnival Corporation-owned Italian company Costa over Coronavirus deaths.
The investigation is against Costa Cruises over handling of COVID cases on one of its liners, which claimed the lives of 3 tourists in March 2020, during a Caribbean cruise on the ship Costa Magica. The vessel was denied entry in several call ports over COVID concerns.
Of the 2303 passengers, nearly 1000 were French. They claimed that for more than a week they had been kept in the dark about suspected onboard infections and contend that the ship's crew had encouraged them to use the restaurants, shops, spas, and casino without putting sufficient health measures in place.
~850 French travelers, including the families of 3 who died of COVID-19, later filed a complaint against Costa.
The company denies that it had failed to keep passengers informed of the situation. Costa insists that the Costa Magica's crew had acted on the basis of scant information available about the new virus at the start of the COVID pandemic.