Thai rescuers retrieve bodies from plane wreck

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Having recovered the flight data recorders, investigators were sifting through the gutted fuselage for clues as to why the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 veered off the runway before smashing into a wooded embankment and bursting into flames.

Survivors spoke of torrential rain and trees bent over in the wind as the plane approached the "Pearl of the Andaman" isle, famed for its white-sand beaches, azure waters and nightlife.

Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um said the final death toll was 34 Thais and 55 foreigners, many of them European holidaymakers.

The Indonesian flight captain and his Thai co-pilot were both killed, but 41 people survived a crash likely to raise more safety questions about the budget carriers that have sprung up across Asia in the last decade.

The coastal airstrip, known to be tricky for landing even without Sunday's driving rain and wind, reopened to commercial flights late on Monday, shortly after a government plane carrying Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont was allowed to land.

Surayud brought flowers and fruit for the injured, who were being treated in hospitals that less than three years ago were helping thousands of holidaymakers hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami.

"It's a very tragic accident," Surayud said. "I wish that all the patients recover very soon."

Five survivors were in critical condition, with burns to 60 percent of their bodies. Fourteen Thais, seven Britons, five Iranians and four Germans were among those injured.

Australia offered to help identify the victims, who so far were known to include four Swedes, three Americans, two Iranians, a French national, at least one Australian and one Briton.

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