Eight bodies located inside sunken Costa Concordia

Feb 22, 2012, 17:17 GMT

Rome - Divers on Wednesday located at least eight bodies trapped inside the Costa Concordia, the cruise liner that sank off Italy's western coast on January 13, Italian media quoted officials as saying.

Several of the bodies, which have yet to be recovered and identified, were found inside the ship's Bridge 4. One of them is thought to belong to Dayana Arlotti, a 5-year-old Italian girl who had been on the cruise with her father. Her disappearance had grabbed the attention of many Italians.

Firefighters said they were able to locate the bodies after interviewing survivors about their whereabouts during the hours that the Concordia sank after hitting rocks near the small island of Giglio. They warned that efforts to pull the bodies out of the listed ship were complicated and would take time.

The latest discoveries increase the number of certified dead to 25, while the status of seven others remains unknown.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Grosseto were reportedly planning to place seven more people under formal investigation. According to daily La Repubblica, the new suspects include four officers and three Costa Crociere employees.

The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest and faces charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all of the around 4,200 passengers and crew were evacuated.

Prosecutors say he steered the ship dangerously close to Giglio, a small island off Italy's western coast.