Costa Concordia: death toll raised to 15 after the bodies of two women have been found on the 4th deck

Italian divers have found the bodies of two women on the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, bringing the confirmed death toll of the disaster to 15.

Italian authorities say the pumping of fuel from the stricken Costa Concordia can proceed in tandem with the search of the wreck.

Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan coast on 13 January with 4,200 people on board.

It is carrying about 1.9 million litres of fuel in 13 tanks.

An Italian naval vessel is on standby in case of oil leaks.

The bodies of the two women were found near the internet cafe, on the fourth deck.

The women’s families have been notified, officials say.

There is no decision yet on when fuel pumping will begin but the civil protection agency has said it is likely to start within the next 24 hours.

Civil protection official Franco Gabrielli told reporters on Giglio there was no risk the Costa Concordia would drop down to a lower seabed.

“We are ready to go,” an official from the Dutch salvage company Smit said.

“As soon as we get the green light, we start the work”.

The salvagers must first attach steel moorings to the front of the ship. They will not want to start pumping in the dark, she says, so work is likely to begin on Tuesday.

Although there has been no leak so far, the civil protection agency says there is pollution in the water from solvents and disinfectants which were on board the vessel.

Search and rescue work has been suspended several times owing to poor weather.

Coastguard and navy divers have been blasting their way into submerged areas of the vessel using explosives in an effort to find those unaccounted for.

Emergency officials said on Saturday they would not end the search until the whole ship had been examined.

The captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, is being detained under house arrest while his actions are investigated.

Francesco Schettino is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated. He denies the allegations.