The remains of the 32nd and last victim from the January 2012 Costa Concordia disaster, Indian waiter Russel Rebello, were found in a cabin in the wreck in Genoa where it is set to be scrapped, sources said Monday. The remains of the 31st victim, Sicilian passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi, were found in August. A year after the Concordia hit a Tuscan rock on January 13, 2012 in Italy's worst postwar maritime disaster, a Spanish diver died while working on the salvage operation, taking the total death toll to 33.
In addition to the 32 people who lost their lives in the disaster, hundreds were injured.
The incident also caused massive economic damage for Costa Cruises and the residents of Giglio Island, which is a popular tourist destination.
Former captain Francesco Schettino is on trial for multiple manslaughter and dereliction of duty, and could face up to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty.
Dubbed "Captain Coward" by the media for allegedly abandoning ship without overseeing the evacuation, Schettino claims his image and actions have been distorted by investigators and recently called on judges for a new probe.
He is the only person standing criminal trial over the disaster after State prosecutors last year rejected a plea bargain offer from him to accept a jail term of three years and five months.
But they accepted the pleas to suspended sentences of five other officials, including four ship's officers and the crisis coordinator of the vessel's owners, Costa Cruises.
Costa agreed to pay a one-million-euro fine to settle potential criminal charges last April.
An ultimatum from Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan, Schettino's then lover, for him to "tell the truth" brought the Concordia disaster back into the news for the second time in September.
A week previously Gregorio De Falco, the Italian Coast Guard commander called a "hero" for ordering Schettino to "get back aboard, dammit", also gained headlines after declaring he was being forcibly transferred to an administrative desk.
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