As row boats were used to bring out dozens of charred bodies from the swampy grave of Thai Airways flight TG261 in the early hours of this morning, the death toll was estimated at 100. Rescuers waded through chest deep water to get to the wreckage of the Airbus 310200, which crashed as it attempted to land at Surat Thani airport in southern Thailand.
Soldiers, police and civilians hunted with torches through debris scattered over a huge expanse of mosquito-infested water that had taken over the abandoned rice paddy.
The aircraft, carrying 146 people, including 27 foreigners, crashed as a heavy storm lashed the airport where holiday-makers arrive to go to the tourist islands of Koh Samui and Koh Pha Ngan.
Only a light rain fell on the rescuers as they surveyed the wreckage and a litter of crew hats, cases and bags left after the disaster.
Flight TG261 was at the end of a trip from Bangkok to Surat Thani when it crashed about 2 km from the airport.
Forty-six men, women and children survived, walking or being carried from the wreckage. Provincial deputy governor, Mr Niwat Sawaskao, said there was no hope of finding more people alive.
Around the edge of the swamp, next to a rubber plantation, several fire engines and dozens of military and police vehicles were stalled, unable to get closer to the aircraft.
Rescuers reported wading towards the wreckage to the sound of passengers' screams.
Women were brought out in their underwear, the force of the crash and their struggle to get free having torn away their clothes.
The faces of survivors were covered in blood or mud. One European staggered out leaning on two small boys who had rushed to the scene.
One witness said the aircraft broke into three pieces. Visibility was very poor as Tropical Storm Jill lashed the region.
"The pilot tried to make two landings and told passengers if he could not land a third time he would take the plane back to Bangkok," said a steward who survived the crash.
"Then we were told to be ready for a crash landing and the plane came down," he told Thai television from his hospital bed.
Television pictures showed bloodied and shaken survivors, some of them westerners, walking or being carried through the wreckage in darkness and driving rain.
The crash occurred at about 6.45 p.m. (local time), the Thai Airways statement said.
French aeronautics experts are heading for Thailand to help Thai authorities investigate the cause of the crash.
News quickly spread through Koh Samui of the crashed jet bringing more holiday-makers to the island, nervous tourists gathered in front of televisions along the main street front of Chaweng beach, the most popular on the island which started as a backpackers' paradise in the 1970s and became a playground for the rich.
Also on board the crashed jet was Thai pop star, Ruangsak Loychusak. Television pictures showed him staggering clear of the wreckage helped by two men, giving the "V for victory" sign.
There was no immediate information on the cause of the crash, the latest blow to Asian aviation.
In the worst crash this year a China Airlines Airbus 300-600 ploughed into houses while trying to land at Taipei airport on February 16th, killing 196 passengers and crew and six people on the ground.
The crash came as Thailand hosted the Asian Games, the continent's biggest sporting event, in Bangkok. Schools across the country were closed for the event and many Thais had headed for holiday resorts.