7 Dec 2008

Fourth body recovered at Airbus crash site

7:46 am on 7 December 2008

Divers have recovered a fourth body from the scene of the Air New Zealand Airbus crash in France.

A Radio New Zealand correspondent in Perpignan says a diver located the body near the wreckage of the plane just before nightfall in France on Friday (local time).

The Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea at 4.46pm on 28 November, killing seven people. Two German pilots, four Air New Zealand personnel and a Civil Aviation Authority engineer were aboard.

Radio New Zealand's correspondent says the body was in very bad shape and was taken to a nearby hospital to be identified.

DNA tests have been held on the first three bodies recovered from the crash site and the French Prosecutor is expected to announce their identities next week.

French authorities say they will continue the search until all the bodies are found.

Marines have now finished underwater mapping of the crash site.