153 people have been killed after a plane veered from its take-off flight path and crashed at Madrid-Barajas airport.
Transport Minister Magdalena Alvarez confirmed the death toll to date at a news conference tonight, adding that 19 people were injured, 17 of whom had been identified.
There were conflicting reports earlier about the number of fatalities.
Witnesses said the MD-82 aircraft left the runway with an engine on fire, veered right and crashed in scrubland within the airport perimeter.
There was a large explosion and the tail section separated from the rest of the craft.
Herbigio Corral, who headed the rescue effort, said 'only the tail was recognisable, there was wreckage scattered all over the place and dead bodies across a wide area. A lot of them were children.'
Thick columns of smoke rose into the air and police blocked off both ends of the runway, where more than 40 ambulances and fire engines arrived.
Helicopters dropped water to douse the flames of the jet and grassfires caused by the crash.
Spanair flight JK 5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary islands, with 164 passengers and nine crew on board.
It is understood there may have been four German and an unknown number of Dutch passengers among them.
The Swedish foreign ministry has confirmed two Swedish passengers were on board, one of whom has been located in hospital.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said there are no indications that any Irish nationals were on board the flight.
However, the Irish Embassy in the Spanish capital is working to verify the nationalities of those on board.
Spanair is Spain’s second biggest airline after Iberia and is a subsidiary of Scandinavian carrier SAS.
