Rescue workers had early this morning recovered 142 bodies from the Gulf Air Airbus 320 that crashed in waters off Bahrain yesterday with 143 on board, an aviation official said.
Most of the victims are Arab nationals.
Twenty-six children aged 10 years or less were on board, according to a passenger list issued at Cairo airport, from where the aircraft had flown. Of those children, 18 were five years old or less and a total of 34 were under 18 years old.
Mr Ibrahim Abdullah al-Hammar, Transport Ministry Under-secretary for Civil Aviation, told a news conference at Bahrain airport that the flight recorder, or black box, from the aircraft had been found.
The airliner, Flight GF072, crashed in shallow waters about four miles off Bahrain and the Gulf Arab state's television said it plunged into the sea after an engine caught fire. It was on its third attempt to land.
Qatar television quoted Bahraini officials as saying coast guard and marine forces quickly rushed to the site. In Washington, the Defence Department said US Navy ships and helicopters joined in the rescue effort.
In Paris, Airbus Industrie said the A-320 that crashed was delivered to Gulf Air in September 1994 and had flown some 13,848 flights in almost six years.
Bahrain's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said he had ordered an investigation.
Officials said the passengers included 63 Egyptians, 34 Bahrainis, 12 Saudis, nine Palestinians, six from the United Arab Emirates, three Chinese and one passenger each from Australia, Korea, Kuwait, Sudan, Oman and the US. The crew comprised the Polish pilot, two Egyptians, an Indian, one Filipino, one Moroccan, an Omani and one from the UAE.