Honeymooning Cambridge couple recall chaos, panic aboard stricken Italian cruise ship

A Cambridge couple celebrating their honeymoon recalled a chaotic scene aboard the luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia when it ran aground and tipped over Friday night off the coast of Italy, killing at least five people and leaving another 15 people unaccounted for.

“People were running up and down the stairs. People were screaming. Children were crying. It was panic,’’ Benji Smith recalled last night by phone from a hotel room in Rome.

Smith, 34, and his wife Emily Lau, 27, were in their cabin aboard the ship 14 days after their Cambridge wedding, looking over photos from their honeymoon trip, which had included stops in Spain and Italy.

Suddenly, the ship began to lean. Objects in the cabin began to slide. Smith said he caught the television before it hit the floor. At first, the couple thought it must have been a big wave. But when the lights flickered: “We knew something is really wrong,’’ Smith said.

The newlyweds grabbed their life vests and a cell phone to use as a flashlight, and headed upstairs.

As lifeboats were being prepared and loaded, he said passengers were pushing one another and fighting with crew members.

“The life boats were being loaded, women and children first,’’ he said. “All of the people felt like their families were being pulled apart.’’

He recalled confusing messages being broadcast over the ship’s intercom.

“There was no system in place. No orderliness,’’ Smith said.

The first announcements assured passengers that there had been a problem with a generator and that they could return to their cabins.

But a crew member stopped Smith and Lau as they were going back. By then, the ship was leaning heavily Smith said. “Finally, we heard: ‘Prepare to abandon ship.’’’