Search for people in Concordia's submerged part ends

Italian officials on Tuesday decided to end searching any further for the missing 15 people of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia in its submerged part.

Italian officials on Tuesday decided to end searching any further for the missing 15 people of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia in its submerged part.

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The search for the missing people, however, will continue in parts of the ship that are not under water. So far, rescuers have found 17 bodies in the ship, Xinhua reported.

According to officials, it is not safe to continue operations in those underwater areas of the ship, which has been lying semi-submerged off the Tuscan island of Giglio since the Jan 13 disaster. But the decision is pending confirmation by an expert committee, ANSA news agency reported.

As per the Italian authorities, it will take up to 10 months to remove the ship and efforts should be made to ease concerns of islanders on Giglio, who are worrying about the negative impact of the incident on local tourism.