The Captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized off the Tuscan Giglio island which resulted in the loss of 32 lives was on Wednesday (May 22) ordered to stand trial in July.

Earlier this month prosecutors rejected a plea bargain offer by Captain Francesco Schettino who said he made mistakes, but should not be the only one blamed for the disaster.

Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

State prosecutors accepted plea bargains for five other officials, including four ship's officers and the crisis coordinator of the vessel's owners, Costa Cruises.

The prosecutors said they had rejected Schettino's offer to serve three years and four months in prison as he bore most responsibility for the disaster.

The other officers had played a "marginal" role, they said.

The giant Costa Concordia went down just outside the Tuscan port of Giglio in January 2012 after it struck rocks off the coast of the picturesque holiday island during a manoeuvre which brought the doomed vessel close to the shore.

The trial will begin on July 9 in Grosseto, Italy.

Presented by Adam Justice