2 more bodies found, fuel removal to begin on ship

ROME (AP) — Nudged gently by the tides off Tuscany, the capsized
Costa Concordia has been deemed stable enough on its rocky perch for
salvagers to begin pumping fuel oil from its giant tanks as early as
Tuesday.
The cruise liner, its hull gashed by a reef and pocked by
holes blasted by divers searching for the missing, yielded two more
bodies Monday, 10 days after the accident. The corpses of two women were
found in the luxury liner's Internet cafe, now 55 feet (17 meters)
underwater.
Tables, desks, elegant upholstered armchairs and
cabinets bobbed in the sea as divers guided the furniture out of the
holes to clear space for their exploration inside.
So far, the
bodies of 15 people have been found, most of them in the submerged
portion of the vessel, while 17 others remain unaccounted for.
Authorities said earlier reports that an unregistered Hungarian woman
had called friends from the ship before it flipped over turned out to be
groundless.
The Concordia rammed a reef and capsized Jan. 13 off
the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio as it was carrying 4,200 passengers and
crew on a Mediterranean cruise.