Five more bodies found on the Costa Concordia

PA

Five more bodies have been found on the Costa Concordia wreck - two months after the cruise ship capsized in Giglio, off the coast of Italy.

According to the BBC, the bodies were discovered in a small space between the boat and the sea bed, said Italian authorities.

The new discovery brings the total number of bodies found to 30; two people remain missing and are presumed dead.

The Costa Concordia was carrying 4,200 people when its hull was ripped open by rocks after its captain, Francesco Schettino, drove too close to the shore to perform a sail-by salute.

He is now facing charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before all the passengers had been evacuated.

Salvage experts have been working to remove all the oil from the ship's tanks since 12 February, and are expected to stop on Friday night.

Removing the Costa Concordia is expected to take up to a year; the next stage of work involves cleaning up the sea bed and the area around the vessel's hull before attempting to lift the wreck.

Meanwhile, just last week an investigation was launched after the vessel's iconic bell was stolen.

It is currently thought that "souvenir hunters" dived eight metres under water to retrieve the bell as trophy.


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