Around 150 people were killed when a plane carrying 173 passengers and crew skidded off a runway and crashed at Madrid's main airport this afternoon, emergency services sources said tonight.
The port engine of the Spanair plane reportedly went on fire as it was taking off at Barajas Airport Terminal Four this afternoon. The plane crashed into a field, where it split in two and burst into flames.
"Only the tail was recognisable, there was wreckage scattered all over the place and dead bodies across a wide area. A lot of them were children," Herbigio Corral, who headed the rescue effort, told reporters.
There were only 28 survivors, he said. Mr Corral said they were flung from the plane by the force of the impact and landed in a stream, saving them from more severe burns.
Of the survivors, eight are in critical condition, an emergency services spokesman told national radio. The death toll is expected to rise.
The MD-82 plane was travelling from Madrid to Gran Canaria with 166 passengers - including two babies - and seven crew on board. The flight was jointly operated by German airline Lufthansa.
The majority of those aboard were Spanish. Lufthansa said tonight seven passengers aboard the flight had Lufthansa tickets. Four of them were Germans, it said. A number of Dutch and Swedish passengers were also believed to have been on board.
El Paisquoted an Interior Ministry source as saying there were 100 confirmed deaths and 27 survivors, 19 of them with serious injuries.
El Mundo,quoting an emergency services source, said the death toll was 144. It said only 29 people had been rescued, one of whom died on the way to hospital. The survivors are all said to be in a critical condition. "The plane has been completely destroyed," El Mundoquoted a source at the emergency services as saying.
Development Minister Magdalena Alvarez said she could not give a death toll, saying only that it was "a high number". She said the cause of the accident seemed to be "an error in takeoff". But Spanish media quoted sources as saying the plane's left engine had caught fire.
El Paissaid the plane's take-off had been an hour late because of technical problems. It eventually managed to get slightly off the ground but crashed near the end of the runway, El Paissaid, quoting an employee of the national airport authority AENA.
Television footage after the crash showed thick columns of smoke and police blocking off both ends of the runway, where more dozens of ambulances and fire engines were parked.
Two helicopters, normally used to fight forest fires, drenched the wreckage from above. The fire was extinguished within two hours. Four field hospitals were set up at the scene to deal with the injured.
The airport was closed for several hours following the crash.
Police escorted tearful relatives of passengers past reporters and dozens of psychologists and social workers arrived at the terminal. Charred corpses were taken to a nearby conference centre to be identified.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero interrupted his holidays and the Spanish Olympic Committee said the Spanish flag would fly at half mast in the Olympic village in Beijing. Spain's national soccer team wore black armbands at a friendly match with Denmark tonight.