‘There is nothing left resembling a plane’

That was the reaction of one of the 170 police, 70 firefighters and 230 paramedics who raced to the aid of stricken passengers aboard the burning wreckage of the Spanair flight.

Civil Guard officer Guillermo Altares went on to describe the scene as horrific.

He said: “There is nothing left resembling a plane. It is horrific. It is totally burned. It’s horrific, I can’t even tell you.”

Another rescue worker said: “It’s the closest thing to hell that I’ve seen. We burned ourselves just by touching [the bodies].”

One rescue worker described the scene of the wreckage as “Dantesque” and added: “The plane was split in two and was full of charred bodies. It’s a miracle anybody survived.”

A worker for Madrid’s ambulance service SAMUR said the only word to describe the scene was “catastrophe”.

“I have never seen anything like this in my life,” said ambulance driver Luis Ferreras.