Sixth Body Found On Italian Cruise Ship

A sixth body has been found on the stricken Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, Italian authorities have announced.

The male passenger was found wearing an orange life jacket, of the type given to passengers rather than crew.

Fire official Luca Cari told state radio Monday that the victim was a man, found in a corridor in the part of the ship that was still above water.

The latest discovery comes after coastguard divers discovered the bodies of two elderly male passengers in the submerged part of the vessel.

They were later identified as 86-year-old Italian national Giovanni Masia and 68-year old Spanish national Gual Guillermo.

Costa Concordia ship route

The Costa Concordia set off from Rome and was to travel around the Mediterranean

The other three who died after the liner ran aground near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, have reportedly been identified as two French passengers and one Peruvian crewman.

One of the victims, a man aged in his 70s, is thought to have died of a heart attack caused by the shock of the icy water when he dived in during the chaos.

Rescue workers were continuing to search the Costa Concordia in an attempt to find the 14 people still missing after it sank with more than 4,200 passengers and crew on board.

At least one young child is believed to be among the nine passengers and five crew unaccounted for.

Paolo Tronca, a local fire department official, said the search would go on "for 24 hours a day as long as we have to".

However, other officials warned that the sea was becoming rougher and this could affect the rescue operation.

On Sunday, two 29-year-old South Korean honeymooners and a third survivor - believed to be crew member Marrico Giampetroni - were pulled from the semi-submerged vessel.

The cruise liner's owners have said the most likely cause of the disaster was a "significant human error" by the captain.

But Francesco Schettino, who was detained by police on Saturday on suspicion of manslaughter, has blamed the ship's navigation system.

He said it failed to detect the rocks that tore a hole in the hull.

9:31am UK, Monday January 16, 2012

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