New York, (Islamweb & News Agencies)-Emergency workers in New York have so far pulled 225 bodies from the wreckage of an American Airlines passenger jet which crashed near the city's John F Kennedy airport, killing all 260 people on board.
Flight 587 was bound for the Dominican Republic when it lost an engine and nosedived into the Rockaway Beach residential area of the borough of Queens four minutes after taking off from JFK at 0913 local time (1413 GMT).New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said there were no survivors among the 251 passengers and nine crew.
He revised an earlier figure of 246 passengers to take account of five infants being carried in the laps of their parents.
Between six and eight people who were residents of the Rockaway Beach area have been reported missing.
President Bush offered condolences to the families of victims.
"The New York people have suffered mightily and they are suffering again," he said.
"There is no doubt in my mind that they are a strong and courageous people."
The FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration have stressed that there is no indication the crash was anything other than an accident.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said nothing had been ruled out, but added that no terrorist threat had been received.
"There were no unusual communications with the cockpit beforehand," he told reporters.
He denied the FBI was investigating reports of an explosion on board the aircraft, as had earlier been suggested.