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Summary Divers found bodies of two women near the ship's Internet cafe, raising to 15 the number of dead.
Salvage experts can begin pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship as early as Tuesday to avert a possible environmental catastrophe and the ship is stable enough that search efforts for the missing can continue, Italian officials said.The decision to carry out both operations in tandem was made after instrument readings determined that the Costa Concordia was not at risk of sliding into deeper waters, Franco Gabrielli, chief of the national civil protection agency, told reporters Monday on the island of Giglio.The ship is stable. ... There is no problem or danger that it is about to drop onto much lower seabed, Gabrielli said.The Concordia rammed a reef Jan. 13 on the tiny Tuscan island and capsized a few hours later just outside Giglios port as it carried 4,200 passengers and crew on a Mediterranean cruise.Taking advantage of calm seas, divers on Monday found the bodies of two women near the ships Internet cafe, raising to 15 the number of confirmed dead.There are 17 people still unaccounted for, but Gabrielli has said an unregistered Hungarian woman might have been aboard ship. The womans relatives have told Italian authorities they havent heard from her since she called them to say she was aboard the ship.The ships Italian captain, Francesco Schettino is under house arrest near Naples as prosecutors investigate him for suspected manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel while some passengers and crew were still aboard. He has insisted that he was coordinating rescue operations from a lifeboat and then from shore.
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