Many killed in Madrid plane crash

Madrid: The death toll from the Spanair jet liner crash at Madrid's Brajas airport has risen to 153, the government announced in a statement on Thursday.

Only 19 people survived the crash, many of whom remain in critical condition, Spain's Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said.

The cause of the accident remains unknown, but investigators are scouring the scene to uncover why the plane crashed.

Flight data and voice recorders have been recovered from the wreckage and will soon be analysed.

Madrid has declared three days of official mourning to honour the victims of the crash, Spain's worst in 25 years.

The Spanair flight JK 5022 with 172 people on board was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands on Wednesday.

Alvarez said the plane plunged back into the ground right after it took off from Terminal Four. It had suffered a technical problem earlier which had delayed takeoff.

As smoke billowed from the wreckage, dozens of fire trucks and ambulances rushed to help, lining a nearby road and filling a field next to a swath of charred vegetation. Helicopters flew over dumping water on fires.

"The scene is devastating," said Pablo Albella, an emergency rescue worker. "The fuselage is destroyed. The plane burned. I have seen a kilometre of charred land and few whole pieces of the fuselage. It is all destruction."

Eyewitnesses have said the plane's left engine was on fire as it took off.

Other reports suggested that the plane was making a second attempt to take-off after aborting the original one.

Officials from parent company Scandinavian airline SAS confirmed there were at least 166 passengers and six crew on board the McDonald Douglas MD82 plane.

In a statement on Wednesday, Spanair said: "Spanair regrets to confirm that its flight number JK 5022 from Madrid to Las Palmas de Gran Canarias was involved in an accident at Madrid, at 14.45 hours local time today (Wednesday)," the airline said.

"Spanair is doing everything possible to assist the Spanish authorities at this difficult time. Spanair will provide further information as soon as it becomes available."

An official with the Madrid emergency rescue service SAMUR said crews were removing injured people and bodies from the plane.

"It is a certain catastrophe," a SAMUR official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to give his name.

Earlier on Wednesday, Spanair pilots threatened to go on strike in protest that the loss-making airline was not doing enough to save itself.