Human Remains Discovered at Costa Concordia Wreck Site

Divers continuing the search for bodies around the wreck of the Costa Concordia say unidentified human remains have been found.

Two people have been unaccounted for since the night the ship sank off the Italian shore in a disaster which claimed the lives of 30 other people. DNA tests will determine if the remains are of these two victims whose bodies were never found.

The remains were spotted in the sea near the central part of the ship, where survivors had said the two were last seen. Relatives of the two victims — a female Italian passenger and a male Indian waiter — were notified after divers saw remains Thursday morning.

A spokeswmoman for the civil protection agency noted all that was left of the bodies were bone fragments.

The head of the civil protection agency Franco Gabrielli told reporters the remains discovered on Thursday were "absolutely consistent" with the two missing people. Recovering the submerged bodies after 20 months under the weight of the 114,500 tonne vessel was "almost a miracle," Gabrielli said.

The vessel was raised upright last week in a major parbuckling operation off Giglio Island. Its captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial over the disaster in January of last year – facing multiple charges, including manslaughter.

The cruise ship is due to be towed away from the Mediterranean island, probably by next spring, and eventually broken up into scrap.