Rescuers find black box from crashed Kenyan plane

By DPA

Nairobi/Douala : Cameroonian rescuers pulled a black box and more bodies from the wreckage of a crashed Kenyan jetliner after a two-day search for the accident site, reports said Tuesday.


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The discovery of the black box could help investigators understand what went wrong and why the six-month-old plane went down shortly after lift-off.

None of the 114 passengers and crew on board survived.

The ill-fated Kenya Airways plane went missing Saturday after its pilots sent a distress signal but air traffic controllers were unable to reach the flight crew.

The accident further taints the continent's shaky reputation for air travel. Kenya Airways is one of the most highly rated airlines in Africa.

The Boeing 737-800 was found after a gruelling search in a muddy mangrove swamp by a search and rescue team more than 100 km from the airport in Douala, the Cameroonian commercial capital.

Rescuers began removing bodies from the swamp Monday.

The aircraft originally took off Friday from Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and made an interim stop at Douala. The final leg to Nairobi was delayed about an hour by heavy rain, finally taking off shortly after midnight.

Most of those onboard came from Cameroon, India and several African countries. The crew was from Kenya.

On Sunday, the airline issued a list naming the passengers, who included five Chinese, five Britons, a Swiss and a Swede. One of the Britons was a Nairobi-based correspondent for the Associated Press news agency.

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