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    January 23, 2012

Divers Find 2 More Victims of Italian Cruise Ship Disaster

   VOA News
   Italian Coast Guard scuba divers carry away the recovered bodies of two
   victims of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan
   island of Giglio, Italy, Jan. 23, 2012.
   Photo: AP
   Italian Coast Guard scuba divers carry away the recovered bodies of two
   victims of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan
   island of Giglio, Italy, Jan. 23, 2012.

   Italian officials say two more bodies have been found on the Italian
   cruise ship Costa Concordia, bringing the number of confirmed dead from
   the capsized vessel to 15.
   Italy's civil protection agency chief, Franco Gabrielli, said Monday
   divers located the bodies of two women near the ship's Internet cafe.
   They, along with most of the other victims of the January 13 disaster,
   have not been identified.
   The bodies of two other women were retrieved on Saturday and Sunday
   from the grounded ship, which tipped over off the small Italian island
   of Giglio and is lying half-submerged on its side.
   Seventeen people - most of them passengers - are still listed as
   missing. There is also concern that some unregistered passengers may
   have been on board.
   Gabrielli, meanwhile, says the removal of nearly 2,500 metric tons of
   fuel from the ship can proceed. He says the stricken ship is stable,
   and there is no danger of it sinking further.
   Officials have been concerned that the fuel inside the huge ship could
   start spilling into the sea, raising the possibility of an
   environmental disaster.
   On Saturday, Italian authorities declared a state of emergency on
   Giglio.
   The captain of the cruise ship, Francesco Schettino, remains under
   house arrest, accused of manslaughter and abandoning the vessel.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.