The search for two bodies still missing 20 months after Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship tragedy began Tuesday off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy's civil protection agency said.
Salvage workers who pulled the doomed vessel upright from its watery grave last week in an unprecedented operation "have ensured the ship is secure and given the green light to begin the search," a spokeswoman said.
"Specialist divers from the coastguard, fire brigade and police have begun scouring the area between the righted ship and the land," she added.
The team is looking for the corpses of Italian passenger Maria Grazia Tricarichi and crew member Russel Rebello, whose bodies were not recovered after the nighttime disaster on January 13, 2012, which left 32 people dead.
They will also be assessing how best to carry out the search within the wrecked liner if necessary.
Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy's civil protection agency, had earlier said that the righting of the ship would allow searchers to reach parts of the vessel that had been inaccessible since the accident.
"When the ship toppled, corridors became deep wells. Now she is upright, we can get to areas previously off limits," he said, adding that there would likely "still be areas it is difficult to access and search".
The Concordia had 4,229 people from 70 countries on board when it struck rocks just off Giglio after veering sharply towards the island in a bravado sail-by allegedly ordered by its captain, Francesco Schettino.
It lurched over onto one side during a chaotic and delayed evacuation, throwing terrified people into the freezing sea and preventing some lifeboats from deploying.
Wednesday 25 September 2013
http://www.france24.com/en/20130924-search-under-way-italy-cruise-wrecks-missing-bodies
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