(ANSA) - Rome, March 19 - The bodies of two Italians who went missing after Wednesday's bloody terror attack on a Tunis museum have been found, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Embassy and crisis unit personnel located them in the morgue at Charles Nicolle hospital, the ministry said in a note.
Islamic State (ISIS) on Thursday claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack in Tunis that killed 23 people including two terrorists, intelligence expert Rita Katz said on the website of her organisation SITE. Katz stressed it was not yet possible to verify the claim. ISIS named two of its militants who allegedly took part in the attack, Abu Zakarya al-Tunisi and Abu Anas al-Tunisi.On Thursday Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said two Italians were confirmed dead, while two others were unaccounted for after Wednesday's terrorist attack on a museum in Tunis.
Italy's Costa Cruises said Thursday that three passengers from its Fascinosa cruise ship are dead, while two passengers were still missing and eight injured. The ship had docked in Tunis so passengers could visit the downtown museum where terrorists killed 23 people and injured 47 others.
The overall toll of the mid-day attack was be 23 dead Tunisian Health Minister Said Aidi said Thursday.
The death toll is made up of 18 foreign tourists and five Tunisian nationals, including two terrorists.
Around 50 people were seriously injured, most tourists visiting for the day.
"It's possible that there are four Italian victims, but we are waiting for official confirmation," Gentiloni told RAI television.
The Italian casualties had reached Tunis aboard the Costa Fascinosa cruise ship, sources at the Italian embassy in the Tunisian capital said. Among them is Francesco Caldara, a pensioner from the city of Novara, relatives told ANSA. His wife Sonia Reddi was wounded but not fatally. The other confirmed Italian victim is Orazio Conte, a computer expert and Turin native.
"Today all the levels of mobilization alert for the security forces are at the maximum and concentrated on the terrorism threat," Gentiloni told the State broadcaster.
The minister added that "technically we are in a phase of pre-maximum alert" because the intelligence services had not detected "specific threats".
Italian company Costa Cruises said Thursday that it has stopped all visits by its liners to Tunisia, following Wednesday's attack.
"The safety of guests and crew is Costa Cruises's priority and a necessary condition for be able to offer pleasant, serene holidays," a company statement read. "After what happened in Tunis, we have decided to cancel all the upcoming stops of our ships in Tunisia. They will be replaced by alternative stops that we are preparing".
Costa said that its Fascinosa liner left Tunis port at 1.55 am on Thursday without 13 of its passengers.
Italian cruise company MSC said Thursday that nine guests from its Splendida liner were among the people killed. It added that 12 of its passengers were injured and six others (two Spanish nationals, one Belgian, one British, one French and one Japanese) are still unaccounted for. "According to sources it would appear that of the victims, three were of Japanese nationality, two French, two Spanish and two were Colombian," a company statement read. "The wounded, of which three Japanese nationals, one South African, one Belgian and seven French, are currently being treated in various hospitals". MSC said that the Splendida left Tunis early on Thursday.
The terrorists who Wednesday attacked the Bardo Museum in Tunis were "fitted with explosive belts" and "very advanced weapons" said Interior Minister Mohamed Najem Gharsalli, according to local media. He added that even more people could have been killed than the 23 dead in the attack.
The target of Wednesday's terrorist attack in Tunis was only the national museum, and not the nearby parliament, according to a message claimed to be from Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists, according to TV France 24. There had been speculation that parliament was also a target. They added that two terrorists killed in the attack were Tunisian.
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