Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 9:42am
NBC News — Workers have started to remove the hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel on the capsized Costa Concordia. Salvage experts received the green light on monday to start pumping some 500,000 gallons of fuel from the ship.
It's expected to take weeks to remove the fuel, officials are worried that the ship may start leaking, causing an environmental disaster. The pumping will be carried out as divers continue to search for missing passengers. An estimated 20 people are still missing, including a retired couple from Minnesota.