Of the 162 passengers and 10 crew on board the Spanair jet bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on Wednesday, Aug.
20, 19 people survived with severe injuries, according to Spain's Transport Minister Magdalena Alvarez.
Two black boxes were found at the crash site and were to be examined Thursday.
One engine of the Spanair MD-82, which also had a Lufthansa flight number, reportedly caught fire as the jet attempted to take off from Madrid-Barajas airport at 2:45 p.m. local time on Wednesday.
Experts were divided on whether the fire in the engine was the cause of German FM confirms 2 Germans kidnapped in Nigeria ...
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Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The 19 people who survived were severely injured Spanish media said the plane's take-off had been delayed for one hour while an exterior temperature gauge was repaired.
Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero interrupted his vacation to travel to the scene of the accident. "The government is overwhelmed, very affected, as are all Spanish citizens, by this tragedy," he said.
German investigators join in
Because the flight was a code sharing agreement with German carrier Lufthansa, Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is assisting Spanish authorities in identifying the victims of the accident.
Spain had accepted an offer by the German government overnight, a BKA spokeswoman said.
"We are anxious for more information on whether German citizens are involved," she said.
The nationalities of the victims and survivors have not been confirmed, though Spanish media reported that four Germans, two Swedes, a Chilean and a Colombian were among the survivors.
Lufthansa said initially that seven passengers had checked in on the German carrier's flight number and that four of them were Germans. The German embassy in Madrid said it was in close contact with the Spanish authorities.
Condolences from across Europe
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Two black boxes were found at the scene of the crash Words of sympathy poured in Wednesday from political leaders across Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was shocked by the number of dead and injured and had sent a message to Zapatero, said her spokesman.
"At this sad moment, Italy, united with your country by traditional bonds of friendship, feels particularly close to the Spanish people, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano told Spanish King Juan Carlos.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown were also among those who expressed their deep sadness.
The accident was Spain's worst air disaster since 180 people were killed when a Colombian aircraft crashed in Madrid in 1983. The deadliest plane crash in the history of civil aviation also occurred in Spain, when two Boeing 747s collided at Tenerife airport on the Canary Islands in 1977; 583 people were killed.
(Deutsche Welle)
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