Bodies add to mystery of air crash

Bodies of passengers with open eyes, broken bones and no burns are providing investigators with clues in the crash of a Taiwan airliner whic...

Bodies of passengers with open eyes, broken bones and no burns are providing investigators with clues in the crash of a Taiwan airliner which broke apart at 30,000 feet.

Most of the 80 bodies retrieved so far had suffered dislocated jaws and other broken bones and were not wearing life vests, indicating whatever happened had happened quickly, officials said. The Hong Kong-bound China Airlines Boeing 747-200 plunged into the sea on Saturday, killing all 225 on board in Asia’s third major air disaster in six weeks.

‘‘The wreckage itself is important. And the fact that many bodies that have been recovered had no burns is also a very important piece of evidence,’’ Kay Yong, managing director of the Cabinet’s Aviation Safety Council said. Witnesses said bodies which had been recovered were intact, all had suffered broken bones and many had their eyes open.

Yong said on Sunday military radars showed Flight CI611 of Taiwan’s largest carrier broke into four at 30,000 feet, with one piece flying in the opposite direction to the flight path. Taiwan’s military ruled out speculation the plane was hit by a Chinese missile and the National Security Bureau ruled out a terror attack.