Mumbai man still looking for relative in Costa Concordia wreck

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Mumbai man Kevin Rebello, who has now spent 41 days looking for his brother Russell at the site of the sunken cruise liner Costa Concordia, has been spending a harrowing 48 hours since the discovery of eight new bodies in the wreck on Tuesday.

“The bodies were pulled late on Tuesday night, and only one of them has been identified as yet. She was relatively easier to identify as she was the only minor girl among the bodies. The authorities here have subjected the rest of the bodies to a DNA check, and we are all anxiously awaiting reports. The last 48 hours since I got here have been particularly intense for me,” Kevin told The Asian Age, speaking via telephone from Isola di Giglio, Italy.

Russel, a native of Nalasopara, was working aboard the Costa Concordia and is the only Indian crew member on the sunken ship who is still missing. Kevin has been visiting the site of the wreck since the first day, and refuses to give up hope even as the search for missing victims is drawing to an end.

“There are now only seven victims missing, and it is suspected that they are trapped deep inside the wreck of the ship. Divers are going in every day to look for them. On Tuesday, two more expert divers joined the effort to speed up the search,” said Kevin.

Kevin has been mounting a silent vigil some distance away from wreck, which has now been declared a restricted area.

The Costa Concordia hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio and keeled over with 4,229 passengers and crew from 60 countries on board.

Captain Francesco Schettino is being prosecuted for failing to describe to maritime authorities the scope of the disaster.