Wrecked Costa Concordia in Italy pulled upright from rocks

The crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship has been pulled completely upright early on Tuesday during a complicated, 19-hour operation.

The ill-fated cruise liner ran aground off the Italian coast last year, killing 32 people.

Engineering officials in Italy said they have succeeded in lifting the ship free of rocks, 20 months after it ran aground.

According to the BBC, efforts to right the ship were one of the largest and most daunting salvage operations ever undertaken.

The vessel has been detached from rocks and moved on to a platform constructed on the sea bed, officials said.

Workers attached giant metal chains and cables to the 114,000-gross tonnage ship, which is roughly the length of three football fields, the report added.