Spain grieves for young victims of air disaster

MADRID, Spain—Spaniards were shocked and grieving for the large number of children feared lost on Flight JK5022 when it crashed on takeoff in Madrid and burst into flames. At least twenty-two youngsters -- including two babies -- were among the 172 people on board.

Three are known to have survived Wednesday's crash.

A passenger list released by Spanair shows that many on board the Spanair flight were families -- mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters -- many on their way to a summer holiday in the Canary Islands, a popular Spanish beach resort off the coast of West Africa.

The list includes at least three sets of what appear to be young siblings or relatives that were on the flight, including Lucas and Niklas Mrotzek, Jorge and Raquel Naranjo and Al and Ke Villanueva Santana. It was not clear if any of them survived.

The three children among the 19 survivors included a boy of 6 with head trauma, puncture wounds and injuries to his extremities; an 11-year-old girl with a severely broken femur; and an 8-year-old boy who suffered a broken leg. All were listed in good condition at Madrid hospitals.

Madrid health officials identified them by their initials -- R.A.C., M.A.F. and J.A.A.M. The first appeared to correspond to a boy on the passenger list named Roberto Carretero Alvarez, whose aunt confirmed in an interview with Madrid's El Mundo newspaper that he was alive.

Virginia Carretero said Roberto had been traveling with his 16-year-old sister, Maria, who was not listed as a child on the passenger manifest, and whose initials and age do not appear to correspond to any of the known survivors.

"My 6-year-old nephew has been saved, but of his sister, who was traveling at his side, we know nothing," a distraught Virginia Carretero was quoted as saying by the newspaper El Mundo. "Maybe she has lost her memory and cannot say her name at the hospital."

Spaniards on Thursday expressed shock and sadness about the tragedy, the worst plane crash in this country since 1983; many said they were finding it particularly difficult to cope with the high number of children among the victims.

Dr. Paco Duque, a psychologist at Gregorio Maranon hospital in Madrid, said the large number of children who died was having a profound effect on the nation.

"It hits the country much harder," he told The Associated Press. "It is much more traumatic when it happens to a child ... because it is against nature. The sense of impotence is much stronger."

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Eds: Associated Press reporter Jorge Sainz in Madrid contributed to this report.