国际英语新闻：Lebanon struggling to recover bodies two days after air crash

BEIRUT, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese and international rescue teams were struggling on Wednesday to recover bodies and locate the black box of the Ethiopian airliner that crashed into the sea off Lebanon on Monday.

The plane, carrying 90 people, fell into the Mediterranean sea shortly after taking off from Beirut early Monday. All passengers on board the Boeing 737-800 plane bound for Addis Ababa were presumed dead, including 57 Lebanese nationals, with three of dual nationalities, one Iraqi, one Syrian, two French nationals and 29 Ethiopians.

At the emergency entrance of the Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, policemen and family members of the passengers were waiting outside the forensic medical room, hoping the ambulance would send the victims' bodies to the hospital. However, some of them are still holding hopes in finding their beloved alive.

"I never lost hope though I know it's difficult to believe that she's alive, I just want to see her body for the last time," Marta, a 30-year-old Ethiopian told Xinhua.

Marta's best friend was on the plane. When she knew the tragedy on Monday morning and where the victims would be sent, she came and was waiting for two days, but nothing had she found.

"I even do not know how to identify my friend's body, if she was dead," said Marta, "she does not have any family members in Lebanon, so we cannot identify by DNA test."

Later, Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife arrived at the hospital, and handed over the five bodies that were identified. Mourners and relatives of the victims loaded their coffins into ambulance outside the hospital.

"We have closed the file of the bodies which had been previously moved to Rafik Hariri University Hospital and we have not received any additional bodies today," Khalife said.

As of the press time, the Lebanese authorities said that only 14 bodies were found. As time passes, signs of life diminish.

Earlier, Khalife said health authorities have received about 20 human body parts that will be sent for DNA tests, adding that among the 14 bodies that had so far been retrieved were five Ethiopians.

Meanwhile, rescue teams struggled to recover more bodies from the Ethiopian plane crash site off the coastal town of Naameh near Beirut.

A soldier said on condition of anonymity that Wednesday's search and rescue work began at the dawn, and it continued even after the sunset, with helicopters hovering above the sea area where the accident happened. Ships and divers were also searching above and under the sea surface.

According to the soldier, only more debris were recovered on Wednesday, while the black box is still missing. Even the body of the plane is not located yet.

The slow process mounted hypotheses and speculations about a "sabotage" action in the Ethiopian plane, after scenarios and assumptions were put forward which included that the plane was struck by lightning, caught fire or encountered engine failure immediately after takeoff.

Lebanese daily al-Liwaa said the crash is likely a "deliberate" attack, while Local TV channel OTV cited official circles as saying that the plane was likely "hit by a rocket."

Al-Liwaa based its hypothesis on the fact that a Hezbollah delegation was supposed to be on the plane. But Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite armed group, denied the report, saying in a statement that the daily based its "false information on rumors."

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman had said on Monday that authorities have ruled out sabotage as the cause, while Defense Minister Elias Murr said "a command tower recording shows the tower told the pilot to turn to avoid the storm, but the plane went in the opposite direction."