Remains of Last Missing Concordia Victim Found

Remains of Last Missing Concordia Victim Found

Salvage workers have found human remains of what is believed to be the last victim of the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia that sank in January 2012, according to Italian Coast Guard cited by Reuters.

The remains were found on deck eight, previously inaccessible by divers.

The sinking of Costa Concordia two and a half years ago took the toll of 32 human lives.

The discovered remains are believed to pertain to Russel Rebello, an Indian who worked as a waiter on the ship.

On two separate occasions divers believed to had found the remains of the last missing victim, however medical tests proved the opposite.

On a Facebook page started by Russel Rubello’s brother Kevin, dedicated to him, Kevin wrote that after 1025 days “my younger brother Russel Rebello’s body has finally been found on deck 8 in a cabin of the wrecked Concordia.”

“The Italian Civil Protection Agency and Costa Cruises Care Division this noon confirmed to me of the finding by the Ship Recycling agency working on the ship,” he wrote.

According to him, the family is now pending DNA tests for confirmation of the finding so as to be able to give his brother the “final resting place with honour.”

Costa Concordia wreck was towed to the Port of Genoa for scrapping at the end of July this year in what was dubbed as a historic salvage operation.

The grounding of the cruise ship, carrying 4,252 people at the time,  is believed to had been caused by the captain’s recklessness, as the ship came too close to the Giglio island where it got stuck and later collapsed.

The captain, Francesco Schettino, is being trialed for manslaughter and abandoning ship.

World Maritime News Staff