From correspondents in Europe, 02:00 AM IST

The Brazilian Air Force has found the first bodies and wreckage from the Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic Monday, a spokesman said Saturday in Recife.

The find was made about 8 a.m. (1200 GMT), the spokesman said, providing little more detail.

However, a family member of one of the 228 victims of the accident told news station Globonews that Brazilian Defence Minister Nelson Jobim told relatives that two male bodies had been taken out of the water.

Earlier in the week, Brazilian authorities said they had discovered debris from the downed plane, but it turned out not to be the case.

This had moved French Junior Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau to urge all parties to refrain from making premature declarations.

The Airbus 330-200 vanished mysteriously over the Atlantic early Monday while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 216 passengers from 32 countries and a crew of 12.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)