8 more bodies are found on capsized ship

By Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press
Posted: February 23, 2012

ROME - Divers searching the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship found eight bodies Wednesday on one of the passenger decks, including that of a missing 5-year-old Italian girl, authorities said.

Italy's national civil protection agency, which is monitoring the operation off a Tuscan island, said four of the bodies had been recovered - a woman, a girl, a man, and a person whose sex could not immediately be determined. Because of worsening weather, divers could not immediately remove the four other bodies. That operation will resume Thursday, if seas are calm.

Identification of the bodies could take days. Before Wednesday's development, 15 people were listed as missing, but only one - Dayana Arlotti - was a child.

Dayana was on the Mediterranean cruise with her Italian father and his girlfriend. The girlfriend survived; the father was among the missing.

The Concordia, which was carrying about 4,200 passengers and crew, struck a reef off the island of Giglio on Jan. 13, took on water, and started listing badly until it lay on its side.

The death toll, which includes those missing - presumed dead - and bodies already recovered, stands at 32.

Among the missing are a Minnesota couple, Barbara Heil, 70, and Gerald Heil, 69, and Dayana's father. Others are from Germany and France. The one missing crew member is from India.

The girl's father had a history of health problems and was said to be traveling to celebrate a new lease on life - he had received a kidney and pancreas transplant. Some witnesses said they last saw him during the evacuation as he headed back to his cabin to retrieve lifesaving medication.

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