The airline said 10 survivors were known about so far and 70 bodies had been retrieved.

The plane crashed and sank shortly after take-off from Abidjan bound for Lagos after being diverted to Ivory Coast because of bad weather.

The cause of the accident is still unknown.

Click here for a map of the plane's route

The flight was carrying 179 people, including 10 crew members.

Most of the passengers were Nigerians, but officials says that up to 14 Europeans could have been on board - an estimate obtained by looking at the names on the passenger list.

The US embassy in Nairobi believes there may have been two American men aboard the plane.

Among the crew was a young Kenyan cabin attendant, Vincent Mwasi, back at work for the first time after taking leave for his mother's funeral.

Counselling

Kenya Airways said that family and friends of the people involved in the crash were being counselled at a hotel in Nairobi.

But in Lagos, which was home to a larger number of passengers, relatives and friends expressed anger that they had not been kept properly informed.

Many of them had waited at the airport throughout the night, and had first heard of the accident through international media.

Bodies recovered

The Ivory Coast Fire and Rescue Service is currently trying to identify the bodies.

Naval vessels, fishing boats joined in the rescue operation, and French military personnel stationed in Abidjan, also lent their support.

The Ivory Coast authorities are eager to recover the black box flight recorder.

Before the crash the control tower received no indication from the pilot that anything was wrong on board the plane.

The plane was diverted to Abidjan, where it picked up more passengers before heading back to Lagos on its way back to Nairobi.

It took off from Abidjan at 2108 GMT on Sunday and crashed into the sea almost immediately, airport officials said.

"Just after take-off the plane started having problems," said Samuel Ogbada Adje, a Nigerian survivor. "It wasn't quite balanced and the next thing we knew we were in the water."

He swam out of the wreckage, but said he had to wait two hours before being rescued.

"If they had come sooner, a lot of us would have been saved," he said.

Sudden descent

Mr Clarke said the Airbus had no technical problems of any significance and there was nothing of note on its service record.

"The aircraft started its initial climb with no problem and then suddenly descended," he said.

Airline spokesman Koome Mwambia said it was the first major accident involving a Kenya Airways plane.

"All of us at Kenya Airways extend our deepest sympathy to the families of the passengers and crew involved in the accident," he said.

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