Brazil says 17 bodies recovered from jet crash

RECIFE, Brazil — Search boats scouring the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday recovered 15 more bodies of passengers who were aboard a doomed Air France flight that crashed a week ago, Brazilian military authorities said.

Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz said four of the bodies were men and four were women. They could not provide the gender of a ninth body Brazilian searchers recovered or of eight additional bodies recovered by French authorities.

The first two bodies, of two male passengers, were recovered Saturday. The flight was carrying 228 people when it crashed the night of May 31. All of the passengers are presumed dead.

Munhoz also told reporters Sunday night that several structural parts of the Airbus 330 were recovered at the location from which Flight 447 sent a burst of messages saying it was having electrical problems and loss of cabin pressure.

He declined to say which parts of the plane were recovered, saying that information would not be released until they are positively identified.

Nine of the bodies are being taken to the Brazilian islands of Fernando de Noronha on a Brazilian ship and the remaining seven are being transported on a French ship, Munhoz said.