AGANA, Guam, Aug. 6 -- Cmdr. of Naval Forces of Marianas, Admiral Martin Janczak says all survivors of the deadly Korean Air crash in Guam's capital city of Agana have been recovered.
Guam governor Carl Gutierrez says the number of survivors fell to 32 after three died of their injuries at the U.S. Naval Hospital and Guam Memorial Hospital. Rescue efforts have shifted from looking for survivors to recovering bodies.
During a news conference with Janczak, Gutierrez and executive manager of Guam International Airport, Jay Sprague, they were unable to confirm a fire on board and said the beacon lights at the airport were operational and that the plane was visible on radar until 1:50 a.m. local time in Guam.
Witnesses reported seeing an explosion in the darkness moments before a Korean Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed in rugged terrain near the Agana airport in Guam.
As first light broke, rescue crews were able to see the full extent of the damage. Ginger Cruz, a spokeswoman for Gutierrez, says the smoking wreckage is contained in a relatively small area on a muddy slope beneath Nimitz Hill.
Bulldozers are now carving out a path from the nearest road to the crash site about 200 feet away. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Karen Jeffries said at least 100 personnel from the nearby Anderson Air Base are assisting rescue efforts, with navy helicopters surveying the site. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has dispatched a team to Guam to investigate.
Of the 254 people on board, KAL says 23 were crew members and three were infants. A reported 13 Americans were on board.
NTSB Chairman Jim Hall told a Seattle news conference the plane landed in heavy rain, light wind and visibility of about one mile.
FAA spokesman Eliot Brenner in Washington said Korean Air Lines Flight 801, en route from Seoul, South Korea, to Guam, crashed on approach to Runway 6-right at Agana International Airport at 2:35 a.m. local time in Guam (12:35 p.m. EDT).
Brenner said the plane had been given landing clearance and then the tower lost radar contactwith the plane about three miles from the runway.
