Coast guard divers searching the submerged part of the Costa Concordia today found the bodies of two elderly people, raising to five the death toll.
Coast guard divers searching the submerged part of the Costa Concordia today found the bodies of two elderly people, raising to five the death toll after the luxury cruise liner ran aground and tipped over off the Tuscan coast, authorities said.
The bodies were found at the emergency gathering point near the restaurant where passengers were dining when the ship carrying more than 4,200 people hit a reef or rock near the Tuscan island of Giglio, Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro said.
"We are still searching" for any bodies, "but (also) in the hope that there might have been an air pocket" to allow survival, Nicastro told Sky TG24 TV dockside.
The discovery reduced to 15 the number of people still unaccounted for after an Italian who worked in cabin service was pulled from the wreckage Sunday and a South Korean couple on their honeymoon were rescued late Saturday in the unsubmerged part of the liner when a team of rescuers heard their screams.
Authorities are holding the Italian captain for investigation of suspected manslaughter and abandoning his ship among other possible charges. According to the Italian navigation code, a captain who abandons a ship in danger can face up to 12 years in prison.
The ship's chaotic evacuation has added to the difficulty in tracking down survivors. Six of those unaccounted for are crew members, and the others are passengers, said Tuscany's president Enrico Rossi. In the first hours after the accident late Friday night, three bodies were found in the waters near the ship.
The divers' search in the bowels of the ship, which is lying on its side with a huge gash in one side, was already dangerous because of the risk the vessel could suddenly move and sink into waters over a nearby lower sea bed.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}