24 Aug 2008

Death toll in Spanish plane crash rises

9:03 am on 24 August 2008

The death toll from the Spanish airliner crash last week has climbed to 154 after a woman who suffered severe burns in the accident died from her injuries.

The 31-year-old died at Madrid's La Paz hospital, where she was being treated for burns to 72% of her body.

The woman had been one of the most badly injured of the 19 people who survived the crash of the Canary Islands-bound Spanair flight at Madrid's Barajas airport just after its second takeoff attempt.

Two of the injured remain in "very serious" condition.

Spain mourns

The first funerals have been taking place for victims of Wednesday's plane crash.

One of the first to be buried was 21-year-old Isaac Dominguez from Salamanca.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Amalia Filloy and her 14-year-old daughter, also named Amalia.

Investigators are now assessing whether a loss of power on take-off caused the crash of the Spanair McDonnell Douglas 80 plane.

Amalia Filloy made headlines in Spain after a firefighter who was one of the first to arrive at the crash scene told reporters that she had begged him to save her 11-year-old daughter Maria first.

A funeral was also held in Spain's Canary Islands - the destination of the flight and home to about half of its passengers and crew - for a soldier named David Caballero.

PM visits survivors

The prime minister has visited some of the survivors and King Juan Carlos met relatives of the victims at a makeshift mortuary.

Several of the survivors remain critically ill.

The accident is Spain's worst air disaster in 25 years. A Boeing 747 of the Colombian airline Avianca crashed in Madrid in 1983, killing 180 people.

Two Boeing 747s collided at Tenerife airport in the Canary Islands in 1977, killing 583 people.