DNA testing will be conducted to identify of some of the 39 bodies that were recovered after a Lao Airlines plane crashed into the Mekong River last week, officials said Sunday.

The French-made ATR-72 jet crashed in bad weather Wednesday, killing all 49 passengers and crewmembers on board, including three South Korean businessmen. Rescue workers have so far pulled 39 bodies from the water, including one in Sunday morning.

Some of the bodies, however, were unidentifiable due to decay and damage incurred from the impact of the crash, making it impossible to identify them without further forensic investigation, officials from the South Korean Embassy in Laos said.

Officials said it could take between a couple of days to two weeks depending on the condition of the bodies to identify them through DNA testing.

A team of South Korean forensic officials have arrived in Laos to help identification efforts. They interviewed victims’ families and collected DNA samples to compare them to the bodies for identification.

About 10 family members of the three South Korean victims also arrived in Laos earlier Saturday. They were scheduled to attend a briefing on the accident and visit the crash site.

(From news reports)