The Costa Concordia disaster claimed 32 lives, but the search for its victims continued long after the night the ship struck rocks off the coast of Italy and partially sank.
Some bodies were recovered within days. Others remained trapped in parts of the wreck that rescuers simply couldn’t reach, and one victim would not be found for almost three years.
So, were all 32 victims eventually recovered? The answer took years to establish, with the final discovery coming in a place that could only be searched after the wreck had been moved.
All 32 Victims Of The Sinking Were Eventually Recovered
All 32 bodies of those who died on the Costa Concordia were recovered, although only some of these were discovered in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. In total, it took almost three years to find the last body, which happened during the scrapping of the ship.
The 33rd casualty was never lost at sea – he was a Spanish diver working on the wreck in 2014, preparing it to be righted and towed. He cut his leg on a sheet of metal during the operation, and while he was brought to the surface by a fellow diver, he later died.
Where The Bodies Were Found
The first 17 victims of the Costa Concordia disaster were found in the water and in various accessible parts of the ship when the search first began. Other bodies were found between the hull and the seabed, on Deck 4, and on Deck 3, in difficult parts of the ship to search.
Here’s a timeline of the bodies being found:
- 13th January 2012 – The Costa Concordia partially sinks. Within the next couple of days, the initial bodies are recovered, with 17 people found and a further 15 confirmed to be missing.
- 22nd and 23rd February 2012 – A mini-submarine is sent to search the lifeboat deck (Deck 4), which has previously been unsearched due to it being difficult to access. Eight bodies are recovered, including an American couple, a German couple, and the youngest victim, a 5-year-old girl from Italy. Seven victims remain unaccounted for.
- 22nd March 2012 – Five further bodies are discovered between the hull and the seabed during searches of the wreck. Their recovery leaves two victims still unaccounted for..
- October 2013 – With the ship now righted, searches continue and one more body is found, the last passenger – Maria Grazia Trecarichi. Only a crew member remains unaccounted for.
- November 2014 – The final body is found in a cabin while the ship is being dismantled in Genoa.
After the initial victims were recovered, efforts were made to find the bodies amongst the shipwreck, but they proved difficult.
Eight more victims were recovered on 22nd and 23rd February 2012 as search teams explored submerged areas around Deck 4. Several were found inside or close to the ship’s lifts, showing just how difficult some parts of the wreck were to access.
Another five bodies were discovered on 22nd March 2012 between the hull of the Costa Concordia and the seabed. That left just two victims still missing: passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi and crew member Russel Rebello.
The Last Two To Be Discovered
The final two victims were not recovered until after the Costa Concordia had been righted in September 2013.
Human remains discovered during subsequent searches were identified as those of missing passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi. Her identification was confirmed through DNA testing in October 2013, leaving crew member Russel Rebello as the only victim still unaccounted for.
The Last Body Found On The Costa Concordia
The final victim to be found was Russel Rebello, an Indian waiter who had been working aboard the Costa Concordia.
His remains were discovered on 3rd November 2014 in a cabin on Deck 8 while the ship was being dismantled in Genoa. DNA testing subsequently confirmed that the remains belonged to Russel, bringing the search for all 32 victims of the sinking to an end.
The Last Movements Of The Costa Concordia
The Costa Concordia is no longer at the site where she sank. The wreck was refloated and towed to Genoa in July 2014, where a major dismantling and recycling operation began.
The project took around three years and was completed in July 2017, bringing the final chapter of the Costa Concordia salvage operation to an end.
Read more: Where Is The Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Now?
Final Word
While it was extremely tragic that these people lost their lives as part of the disaster, it may provide some comfort to the families to have recovered the bodies for proper burial ceremonies and other forms of grieving.
Often, when ships sink, the bodies can be lost at sea. But because of the nature of the disaster, being so close to land, most people were able to escape, and those who sadly died did so on the ship itself or in the entry to the water.
Captain Francesco Schettino was ultimately convicted over the disaster and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Italy’s highest court upheld his sentence in May 2017.
The Costa Concordia disaster also led to intense scrutiny of cruise ship safety and emergency procedures, and remains one of the most significant maritime disasters in modern cruise history.
If you want to know what happened to the Captain after the sinking, then read this article next: What Happened To The Costa Concordia Captain.
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