08/23/2008
Spain held the third official day of mourning on Saturday for the 153 people who perished in this week's deadly plane crash in Madrid.
Relatives of victims whose remains had been identified continued to arrive at the La Almudena cemetery in the Spanish capital on Saturday. AP Television footage showed police and emergency services staff supporting grieving relatives at the cemetery.
Bodies of some of the victims were taken to the cemetery after the crash. The cemetery is storing the bodies of those who died but could not be immediately identified while the ongoing DNA identification process took place. Only an estimated 53 bodies had been identified by early Saturday. Many were burned beyond recognition and forensic teams have been using DNA techniques for identification.
Maria Dolores Rolle, a psychologist for SAMUR, Spain's emergency services said families of the victims had started to arrive at the cemetery to collect the remains of those who had been identified. "We are, together with the court and with scientific police, getting the families together with the bodies of their relatives", she said.
She added that continuous psychological support was being offered to relatives, especially those who wanted to see the bodies of their family members. "This is an exceptional situation because some people want to see the bodies of their loved ones and that creates huge vulnerability and added stress, more than what they already have", she said.
Only 19 people survived from the 172 on board the Spanair flight from Madrid's Barajas International Airport to Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands. All 19 survivors of the crash remained hospitalized on Saturday, two of them in critical condition.
Relatives of two French victims Pierrick Charilas and his son Ethan Charilas appealed to French Embassy officials for assistance. Magalie Baton, the mother of Ethan Charilas and ex-wife of Pierrick Charilas, told AP Television that it was "mainly a matter of principle". "If they were here it would not make such a difference. But it would be a great help for all the official procedures". She said. "We have to do everything ourselves: coffins; repatriation; cremation and so on. On the other hand it keeps us busy".
Investigations
Meanwhile police and investigators probing the plane crash have questioned the mechanic who cleared the plane for takeoff after tending to a minor mechanical problem, the airline said on Saturday. Spanair said the mechanic dealt with a problem in an air temperature gauge that forced the pilot to abandon a first attempt to take off.
About an hour later, when the MD-82 finally did take off, it crashed near the end of the runway, burning and largely disintegrating. Aviation experts have told Associated Press this problem probably did not cause the crash.
Some relatives of people who died in the crash questioned Spanair representatives and complained angrily that the company was not providing any information on what might have caused the crash. Some also said their loved ones had sent them cell phone text messages saying that had tried to get off the plane after the mechanical problem emerged, but were not allowed to. Spanair declined to comment on Saturday.
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