Bodies 'found' from missing plane!

Distraught relatives have been going through days of anguish

Two bodies and debris have been found from the Air France plane which went missing over the Atlantic last Monday, the Brazilian air force has said.

The remains were picked up some 800km (500 miles) north-east of Fernando de Noronha islands, off Brazil's coast.

Experts on human remains are on their way to examine the find.

All 228 passengers and crew on board AF 447 are believed to have been killed when the plane disappeared during its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

"We confirm the recovery from the water of debris and bodies from the Air France plane," air force spokesman Jorge Amaral told reporters in the northern city of Recife on Saturday.

See a map of the plane's route

He later added that two male bodies had been found, as well as objects linked to passengers known to be on the flight, including a suitcase with a plane ticket and a backpack with a computer inside.

"It was confirmed with Air France that the ticket number corresponds to a passenger on the flight," Col Amaral said.

A blue seat was also found, and Air France is checking the serial number to see whether it came from the flight.

The remains were found not far from where the last signal from the plane was received and taken to the islands of Fernando de Noronha.

The items were the first to be definitely linked to the plane, nearly six days after the crash.

SEARCH FOR FLIGHT AF 447 1 June: Contact lost with plane over mid-Atlantic 2 June: First debris spotted from the air includes an airline seat. Brazilian defence minister says debris is from missing plane 3 June: More debris spotted, including a 7m-wide chunk of metal. Fuel slick seen on ocean surface 4 June: Buoys and pallet recovered from ocean said to be from plane. Officials later retract statement 6 June: First two bodies, plus suitcase and backpack found, along with seat thought to be from the plane Timeline of Flight AF 447 Air disasters timeline Mystery of Air France flight Challenge of deep-sea debris

But the BBC's Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo says the authorities are adopting a cautious approach after previous reports of debris being found proved false.

Correspondents say that much of the search effort so far has been focused on finding flight data recorders, which have sonar beacons - or "pingers" - attached to them.

But French officials say there was no guarantee the beacons were still attached to the flight recorders, and they may have been separated in the impact of the crash.

The officials do not know what triggered the plane's problems, but it was flying through an area of thunder storms and turbulence.

They said it sent 24 error messages minutes before it crashed.

The investigators said the plane had been using speed censors that had been associated with problems in the past.

They were due to be change as part of a programme of improvement, they added, but that did not necessarily mean the aircraft was not safe to fly.

A French submarine is being sent to join in the search since it had sonar equipment that could help locate the airliner's flight data recorders.

The US is also sending specialised listening equipment.

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BBC NEWS REPORT.