Costa Concordia Wreckage Yields 8 More Dead Bodies
Divers discovered eight bodies onboard the sunken cruise liner Costa Concordia on Wednesday.
The bodies were discovered on one of the ship's passenger decks in an unexplored and difficult to reach area, according to Italian authorities. Three of the bodies were recovered and transferred to a hospital for identification within hours of the discovery, but the five other bodies found remained due to worsening weather conditions.
The entire ship has yet to be searched as it lies at nearly 90-degree angle making the inspection process extremely difficult and dangerous.
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The identification process for the recovered bodies could take days, but officials believe that one of the recovered bodies is that of 5-year-old Dayana Arlotti. Arlotti was the only missing child on the ship. Her father remains unaccounted for.
The Costa Concordia was largest Italian cruise ship ever made, costing $570 million to build. It sank off the coast of Italy on Jan. 13, killing a confirmed 25 people. Seven bodies continue to remain missing.
The ship struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea near the western coast of Italy after veering off its official route. The gash on the side of the ship flooded the engine rooms and caused the ship to capsize. The ship sunk just hours after it left port.
The cruise liner was carrying around 4,200 passengers and crewmembers.
Just last week underwater pumping operations began to remove the 500,000 gallons of fuel left aboard the cruise ship, but an estimated 2,400 tons of diesel fuel remains.
Costa Concordia captain, Francesco Schettino, is currently under house arrest and is facing charges of manslaughter over the disaster.
Schettino abandoned the ship before all the passengers and crew were evacuated, but maintains that he is not guilty for the sinking of the ship. Schettino's first mate, four other ship's officers, and three cruise line employees are also under investigation over the wreck.
