The Costa Concordia berthed at the Port of Genoa. Photo courtesy The Parbuckling Project
Bones possibly belonging to the Costa Concordia’s only still missing person may have been found onboard the hulk of the vessel.
A search for the last missing person kicked off Tuesday onboard the Costa Concordia at the port of Genoa, where the vessel is now berthed following the successful refloating and towing operation carried out last month.
According to a statement by the Italian Deptartment of Civil Protection, the bones were found by divers on deck number 3 of the ship and they will need to be analyzed to confirm whether or not they below to the missing person.
The green light for the search at the Port of Genoa comes after a search of the seabed at Giglio island following the vessel’s departure returned no signs of the missing person.
Teams of searchers from the Provincial Fire Fighters of Genoa, the Scuba Divers Operational Group of the La Spezia Navy, the Provincial Scuba Divers of the Genoa Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza of Genoa were expected to begin the search Tuesday, according to the Italian Dept. of Civil Protection. The search was to commence on deck number 4, which had been under water since the initial disaster, and work down towards lower decks.
The missing person is identified as Russel Rebello, who according to Reuters report was a waiter from India.
In October, the remains of Maria Grazia Trecarichi were discovered onboard the ship. The statement from the Dept. of Civil Protection said that it can not be ruled out the remains belong to Trecarichi.
A total of 32 people were killed when the ship hit rocks and partially sank along Giglio in 2012.
On Tuesday, the Dept. of Civil Protection said that the dismantling of the ship would not begin until the wreck was thoroughly searched.
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