RIO DE JANEIRO,  (UPI) -- Eight more bodies were recovered among the debris of a downed Air France Airbus A330 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Brazil last week.

The total number of bodies recovered by a Brazilian recovery team stands at at least 24, O Globo newspaper reported Tuesday.

Brazilian divers Monday recovered a large portion of the tail of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean.

The plane's wreckage and bodies were discovered in waters about 600 miles northeast of the Brazilian islands Fernando de Noronha.

Before the jetliner disappeared on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, the aircraft had sent automatic messages indicating faulty flight speed readings. Investigators were looking into whether that might have contributed to the crash.

Flight 447 was carrying 228 passengers and crew when it suddenly vanished from radar during a storm over the ocean.

By Special correspondent