Alps plane crash DNA found as rescuers battle terrain

by Kate Millar

Berlin (AFP) -- Investigators picking through the wreckage of a passenger jet that crashed on a remote Alpine mountain said they had found DNA from more than half of the victims, as more details emerged concerning the doomed flight's last minutes.

Forensic teams announced they had isolated almost 80 distinct DNA strands from body parts at the Germanwings crash site in the French Alps, as recovery personnel continued their grim task following last week's tragedy.

French officials say the plane's black box voice recorder indicates that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked the captain out of the cockpit of the Airbus jet and deliberately crashed Flight 4U 9525, bound for Duesseldorf from Barcelona.

Investigators have described the difficulty searching for bodies and a second black box as "unprecedented" due to a combination of mountainous terrain and the violence of the impact.

The plane is said to have crashed at a speed of 700 kilometres (430 miles) per hour, killing all 150 on board instantly.

Prosecutor Brice Robin, one of the lead investigators, said an access road was being built to the site to allow all-terrain vehicles to remove some of the larger parts of the plane and help transport bodies.

He said forensic experts had identified 78 different DNA strands.

"We haven't found a single body intact," said Patrick Touron, deputy director of the police's criminal research institute.

"We have slopes of 40 to 60 degrees, falling rocks, and ground that tends to crumble.

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Alps plane crash DNA found as rescuers battle terrain