Eight Bodies Found In Costa Concordia Wreck

Eight more bodies have been found in the wreckage of the semi-submerged cruise liner Costa Concordia, according to Italian officials.

One of them is believed to be five-year-old Dayana Arlotti, an Italian girl who was the youngest passenger. She was traveling with her father.

An official said: "Bodies of victims have been located. The operation to recover them is under way."

The Concordia continues to lie on its side close to the Italian port of Giglio.

The previous search of underwater deck areas was called off on January 31 over fears the cruise liner could slip from the ledge where it came to rest.

Divers resumed the search on Wednesday, checking areas of the wrecked liner where some of the missing were last seen, in the hope of recovering more bodies.

And in the past week, pumping has started to shift the ship's fuel reserves off the vessel and avoid an ecological catastrophe.

Thirty-two people are believed to have died in the disaster. 17 Bodies have been recovered so far.

The Costa Concordia was carrying about 4,200 passengers and crew on a week's cruise when it rammed into the reef during dinner a couple of hours after leaving an Italian port.

The boat started badly listing to one side almost immediately, causing passengers to panic and scramble for the lifeboats.

But the evacuation was not ordered until about an hour later, and some passengers jumped overboard when several of the lifeboats could not be deployed because of the ship's tilt.

The captain of the Costa Concordia Francesco Schettino is under house arrest at his home near Naples while he is investigated for alleged manslaughter and abandoning his ship.