Search Ends For Bodies In Cruise Ship Crash

By: Kristy Charles | CBS
Published: January 31, 2012

GIGLIO, ITALY --

Italian authorities end the search for bodies in the submerged section of the Costa Concordia.

More than two weeks after the giant cruiseliner ran aground off the Tuscan coast, the civil protection authority said conditions on the wreck had made it impossible for divers to continue working safely in the underwater sections of the 290-metre long vessel.

The agency said the decision had been finalized after the families of the 15 people still unaccounted for had been informed.

Speaking in Giglio harbour, fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari said the search of the underwater hull had been suspended indefinitely.

"It is no longer safe. The indications we received two days ago, when instruments recorded the latest movements of the ship, have led to a new analysis of the situation. Therefore, the data has been studied by the scientific committee and this has led us to believe that it is no longer possible to work inside," he said.

However, the search will continue in other sections of the half-submerged ship and in waters up to 18 square kilometres around the vessel, where a number of objects have been spotted which investigators believe could turn out to be bodies.

"We are continuing to work in the dry areas of the ship. Our rescue workers are still able to work there, so they are continuing the search. And we are also carrying on with the underwater search outside the ship," Cari said.

As well as the 15 still missing, a total of 17 bodies have been recovered since the accident on January 13, when the Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, struck a rock after its captain steered to within 150 metres of the tiny island of Giglio.

Salvage crews plan to begin pumping more than 2,300 tons of diesel from the wreck this week but bad weather has delayed the start of operations, expected to take between three weeks and a month.