Relatives of victims of a plane crash in Greece have gathered in Athens to identify the remains of the victims. So far, 112 bodies have been found.

"At this time, 45 bodies have been moved from Schisto which have the ability of being recognised by family or friends immediately. The rest of the bodies cannot be identified. They will remain at Schisto and will undergo DNA tests and other tests that will help in identification. At this time dozens of relatives are going in for identification. Some bodies have been identified," Thanassis Yiannopoulos, Greece's deputy health minister, said.

Cyprus declared three days of national mourning, and in Athens flags were ordered to fly at half staff on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, two black-box recorders from the crashed plane have been sent to France for analysis. Authorities say the cause of crash appeared to be technical failure, resulting in high-altitude decompression.

But authorities said the black box containing the pilots' conversations was severely damaged and may offer few clues.

"We don't know if we will be able to get something from it," Akrivos Tsolakis, head of the Greek Air Accident Investigating Committee, told Greece's state-run NET television.

Media reports that a passenger aboard the ill-fated flight had sent a mobile phone text message to relatives turned out to be a hoax after police tracked the message to a man in Thessaloniki, who confessed to fabricating the message.

Greece's government says no evidence has emerged of terrorism or foul play, and has flatly rejected media speculation that two air force fighter jets sent to escort the rogue aircraft had been ordered to shoot down the plane on terrorist fears.

Greek authorities and Helios' Managing Director Demetris Pantazis confirmed that most passengers were Greek Cypriots and the remainder Greeks, while the aircraft captain was German.

The airliner fell shortly after noon on Sunday into a mountain near Marathon, 25 kilometers away from Athens, on a flight from Larnaca to Prague via Athens.

The crash ignited a wildfire that spread through scrubland. The charred bodies lay amid broken parts of the plane scattered over a wide radius. The aircraft's tail was detached from the fuselage and appeared mostly intact.

Cyprus-based Helios denied allegations that the aircraft had failed a pre-flight inspection and that the company had a fast staff turnover among engineers and technicians.

In a press briefing at Athens International Airport, Pantazis confirmed that all Helios flights were running normally. He announced that the families of each victim would get an initial payment of € 20,000 in compensation to cover immediate needs, while the final figure would be settled at a later date.

(CRI.com, Xinhua News Agency August 16, 2005)