|
|
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Spanish investigators probe crash of Madrid plane (4 p.m.)
MADRID, Spain -- Investigators on Thursday were probing what caused a Spanish airliner to crash on takeoff from Madrid in a fiery accident that left 153 people dead.
Spain mourned its worst air disaster in nearly 25 years, with flag in Madrid flying at half-staff and a silent vigil planned for noon. Three days of mourning have been declared.
The king and queen plan to visit a makeshift morgue where relatives are waiting to claim the remains of their loved ones.
Only 19 people survived Wednesday's crash of a Spanair plane bound for the Canary Islands.
Spanair says it does not know the cause of the crash. It says the pilot of the U.S.-built MD-82 airliner initially reported a problem with a gauge that measures temperature outside the plane. This delayed the takeoff while the problem was repaired, and then the plane crashed at the end of the runway during the second takeoff attempt, burning and largely disintegrating.
The Spanish newspaper El Pais says one of the two engines failed and may have caught fire during takeoff.
The morgue has been set up at Madrid's main convention center. That's the same facility used for relatives to identify bodies after the March 11, 2004 Islamic terror attacks that killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains.
Development Minister Magdalana Alvarez said Thursday that 14 bodies have been identified so far. She said the process could take several days because many bodies were burned beyond recognition and forensic teams are using DNA techniques.
Spanair chartered a plane in the Canary Islands to fly in relatives of people killed in the crash.
Some mourners spent the whole night at the morgue. (AP) |
|
|
|
