Number of recovered French jet crash victims' bodies rises to 24

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 8 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian Air Force and Navy announced on Monday evening that they managed to recover eight more bodies of Air France Flight 447's passengers during the day, raising to 24 the total of recovered bodies.

A handout picture from the Brazilian Air Force shows Brazilian  Navy divers recovering a huge part of the rudder of the Air France Airbus A330 out of the Atlantic Ocean, some 745 miles (1,200 km)  northeast of Recife.(Xinhua/Brazilian Air Force/Handout)

The bodies were found at 440 kilometers northeast of the Sao Pedro and Sao Paulo Islands, in an area where the water depth reaches 3,500 meters. According to the Air Force's spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Munhoz, the bodies were taken to Brazilian ships, and will be transported to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, the search team's base of operation.