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Relatives of Plane Crash Victims Arrive in Bahrain
A special plane carrying relatives of the victims in the Gulf Air plane crash Wednesday night touched down at Bahrain international airport Thursday afternoon from Cairo, Egypt.
The relatives were in deep sorrow. They were greeted at the airport by Bahraini officials and Egyptian ambassador there.
Three Chinese journalists, who lost their wives in the tragic accident, also arrived aboard the plane. They were met by Chinese charge D'affaires to Bahrain.
Gulf Air Vice President Ali Ahmadi extended deep condolences to the relatives, and promised to provide every possible means to facilitate the identification of the deceased.
The ill-fated Airbus A320 of the Gulf Air went down into the shallow waters of the Gulf near the runway after two attempted landings, killing all 135 passengers and eight crew on board.
The airline officials have confirmed that the passengers include 63 Egyptians, 34 Bahrainis, 12 Saudis, two Britons, an Australian, nine Palestinians, six from the United Arab Emirates, three Chinese, one Korean, one Kuwaiti, one Sudanese, one Omani and an American.
The eight crew included two Bahrainis and one each from Oman, the Philippines, Poland, India, Morocco and Egypt.
Rescue workers have recovered all the bodies from the crash site over the night under the personal direction of Crown Prince Salman Ibn Hamad.
Bahraini Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa has ordered investigation into the cause of the crash, which so far remains unknown.
The two black boxes of the plane -- flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder -- have been found. Probe will begin after the arrival of an expert team from Airbus Industrie, which manufactured the aircraft.
The plane joined the Gulf Air fleet in 1994, and had accumulated 17,000 flying hours.
Gulf Air belongs in equal parts to Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and the government of Abu Dhabi, the largest of seven sheikdoms making up the United Arab Emirates. The Bahrain-based Gulf Air operates a fleet of 28 planes and flies to 53 international destinations.
There are altogether 1,100 Airbus A320s in service around the world and the Airbus A320 can seat up to 150 passengers.
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