Eight bodies, including that of a young girl, were located on Wednesday by divers searching the submerged section of the Costa Concordia cruise ship.
The discovery brings to 25 the number of confirmed dead among the 4,200 passengers and crew of the ship, which struck rocks on the Italian island of Giglio on 13 January.
The location of the eight bodies, which have not yet been identified, leaves seven people still unaccounted for.
The girl found is likely to be Dayana Arlotti, a five-year-old Italian who was travelling with her father and his partner. Both father and daughter are missing.
Divers from Italy's firefighting service found the bodies on a section of the vessel's fourth deck, which had not previously been searched, a spokeswoman for the civil protection agency said.
"Because of closed doors it was hard to get to, and the water sealed inside the area was unsafe for divers in normal wetsuits and masks because of the chemicals, food and other remains trapped," she said.
Divers wearing sealed suits and helmets entered the area after statements by passengers suggested they might find bodies there, she added. "We will be searching areas on the third deck for the same reason."
Four of the bodies, including the girl, were taken to a hospital in Grosseto on the mainland for identification. The other bodies will be removed from the vessel on Thursday.
The divers were in action despite rough seas that forced the suspension of work underway to extract fuel from the Costa Concordia's tanks.
Salvage workers have extracted 1,300 cubic metres of fuel from six tanks, equivalent to two-thirds of the total on board, with work expected to resume on Thursday.
As passengers prepare legal action against cruise ship operator Costa Crociere and its parent company, Carnival Corporation, an investigation continues into the vessel's captain, Francesco Schettino. He is under house arrest suspected of abandoning ship and manslaughter.
Ciro Ambrosio, a ship's official, is also under investigation. Italian media reported on Wednesday that investigators had also added another seven names to the list of people under investigation, including crew and Costa officials.
A theatre in Grosseto has been rented out to hold a preliminary hearing on 3 March at which all passengers will be allowed to attend.
At what will be a strictly technical hearing, a judge will instruct experts nominated by investigating magistrates on what tests they need to carry out on the Costa Concordia's black box.
Under Italian law injured parties are allowed to be present to nominate their own experts to follow the tests. "We have no idea how many passengers will show up," said a court official.
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