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Divers Find Human Remains on Site of Italy Cruise Ship Wreck


The cruise liner Costa Concordia is seen at the end of the "parbuckling" operation outside Giglio harbor, Italy, Sept. 17, 2013.
The cruise liner Costa Concordia is seen at the end of the "parbuckling" operation outside Giglio harbor, Italy, Sept. 17, 2013.
Divers on Thursday recovered what they believe could be the remains of the last two missing bodies from the sea where the Costa Concordia cruise liner sank last year off the Italian island of Giglio.

The huge ship was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew when it capsized after striking rocks on January 13, 2012, killing 32 people, including two whose bodies were not recovered.

The head of the civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, told reporters the remains discovered on Thursday were “absolutely consistent” with the two missing people - an Indian man and an Italian woman.

However, their identities could be confirmed only after DNA testing, he said.

After lying on its side in shallow water ever since capsizing, the Costa Concordia was hauled upright last week in a complicated 19-hour salvage operation.

Recovering the human remains after 20 months under the weight of the 114,500 ton vessel was “almost a miracle,” said Gabrielli. A spokeswmoman for the civil protection agency said all that was left of the bodies were bone fragments.

The ship is due to be towed away from the Mediterranean holiday island, probably by next spring, and eventually broken up into scrap.
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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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