The remains of two unidentified bodies have been found beneath the wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise liner, which was recently wrenched from a reef it crashed into last year, resulting in 32 deaths.
After the incident occurred on January 13, 2012, two bodies were never found. Some officials wagered their remains lay under the body of the 115,000 ton-ship, half of which was submerged in the sea. But after the 951-foot vessel was moved upright last week, officials announced that some human remains were found.
"During a search in the water near the central part of the ship, coast guard and police divers found remains which still have to be identified with DNA," the civil protection agency in Italy announced on Thursday. Head of the organization Franco Gabrielli said that the remains were "absolutely consistent" with the two people who never were found, according to BBC. He also mentioned that finding these remains after a 20 month period in which some of the steel on the ship was eroded by water and wildlife was "almost a miracle."
The remains were found by divers searching right outside the hull on the seabed. They haven't been brought out of the water just yet, and officials reported that DNA identification tests will begin soon.
A waiter on board the ship named Russel Rebello, along with an Italian passenger named Maria Grazia Trecarichi, were reported missing after the crash. They were both presumed dead. Their families have been notified of the discovery of remains.
The captain of the ship, Francesco Schettino, is on trial for allegedly causing the shipwreck and eventually abandoning the ship. He's being accused of manslaughter, but insists that he wasn't at fault, and that he is being used as a scapegoat.
It took a team of more than 500 engineers and an intricate method called parbuckling to move the ship upright and out of the water.
