First 16 bodies from Air France crash flown to Brazil's Recife

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BRASILIA, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The first 16 bodies recovered from the Air France crash have been flown to Brazil's northeastern city of Recife for identification, the Brazilian Air Force said Wednesday.

Upon the arrival of the C-130 transport aircraft, the bodies were taken to a local legal medical institute where forensic experts would begin the identification process, Air Force spokesman Ramon Cardoso said.

Due to a delay of the preliminary identification procedure at the Fernando de Noronha islands plus the bad weather in the area, the military plane took off seven hours later than planned, he said.

According to Cardoso, the identification of each body was expected to take an average of three hours. Dissection of these bodies was expected to start on Thursday.

Brazilian Air Force personnel transport a freezer container with 16 bodies recovered from Air France Flight 447, on to a cargo plane in Fernando de Noronha, off the northeast coast of Brazil, Wednesday, June 10, 2009.(AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)