149 Confirmed Dead in Spain Crash

Bodies too hot to touch after fiery disaster; 26 survive
By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 20, 2008 1:44 PM CDT
149 Confirmed Dead in Spain Crash
Ambulances and rescue workers gather near the site where a Spanair jet crashed on takeoff at Madrid airport on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008.   (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

The Spanish government confirms that 149 people died when a Spanair jet crashed shortly after takeoff from Madrid's airport today, the AP reports. Only 26 survived the horrific crash, which tore the aircraft apart to the point that rescue workers said the wreckage didn’t look like a plane and made the victims' bodies so hot they couldn’t be touched. (More Spanair stories.)

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