Egyptian pilot of EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 has saved lives when he decided to dump a fuel tank before smashing into a hillside near Tunis airport Tuesday. A local official in Tunis said the death toll could have been higher if the captain had not dumped the fuel tank. Tunisian civil aviation managing director Hamadi Ben Khalifa said the Tunis airport control tower had cleared the EgyptAir flight for landing but had then lost radio and radar contact with the aircraft.

Other aviation officials said the plane's landing gear had failed to open. Meanwhile, Tunisian rescue workers, hampered by rain and fog, were searching for missing passengers and the flight recorder of the EgyptAir airliner.

Search for the black box and nine people still unaccounted for is continuing.

At least 20 of the 62 people on board the EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 died when it plowed into Sidi Nahli hill on the edge of Tunis in wet, foggy weather.

Tunisian government officials put the toll at 15 dead and 33 injured, while an EgyptAir official in Cairo said 18 passengers had died and 25 have been injured.

TALAL ABU RAHMA AMONG SURVIVORS

Among the survivors was Palestinian cameraman Talal Abu Rahma, whose pictures of a Palestinian child shot dead as he cowered in his father's arms in the early days of the uprising against Israeli occupation were broadcast worldwide.

His wife told journalists in Gaza that he had been slightly injured in the crash and was recovering in hospital in Tunis.

The plane broke into two on impact, throwing bodies, luggage, papers and books into the trees covering the hillside.

The steep, rocky crash site was difficult to reach, and rescuers borrowed donkeys and horses from local farmers to help evacuate the injured.

Officials said the Egyptian government was sending a team to join the investigation and bring home the dead and injured. Its members were due to arrive in Tunis early Wednesday.

PHOTO CAPTION

Rescue workers move around an EgyptAir Boeing 737-500 that crashed while attempting to land at Tunis airport May 7, 2002. The plane with about 62 passengers and crew onboard crashed as it was attempting to land at Tunis airport, killing at least 20 people, rescue workers and government officials said. (Mohamed Hammi/Reuters)