The death toll from a passenger plane crash at Madrid’s Barajas airport has risen to 153, Spain’s government says.
Nineteen people survived when the plane swerved off the runway but some are in critical condition, said Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez.
It is thought the left engine caught fire as the Spanair flight took off for the Canary Islands at about 1420 (1220 GMT) with 172 people on board.
Helicopters dumped water on the burning plane and some 70 ambulances attended.
Spain’s development minister told a news conference that investigators had ruled out foul play and considered the crash an accident.
As night fell, recovery teams were still removing bodies from the crash site, which is now silent and in darkness, except for the occasional flashing blue lights of emergency vehicles, the BBC’s Steve Kingstone in Madrid says.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero cut short his holiday in the south of the country to visit the scene of the crash.
Speaking at the airport, he said: “The government will make all its efforts to support the families in this hard moment as they have received the news of such tragedy.”
