Investigators on Sunday recovered the 'Black Box' and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the wreckage of the ill-fated Air India Express which are expected to provide vital clues about the cause of the Saturday's crash that left 158 people dead.

Top Civil Aviation Ministry officials said the Digital Flight Data Recorder or the Black Box and the CVR, which record cockpit conversation and all technical details, have been traced from the debris of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which overshot the runway and burst into flames after plunging into a ravine.

Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav announced an interim compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of the victims, above 12 years of age, Rs 5 lakh for those below 12 years and Rs two lakh for those injured.

"This will be over and above the relief of Rs two lakh to the families of each victim announced by the Prime Minister," he told reporters in Mangalore.

He said while 128 bodies have been identified and handed over the families, 12 were yet to be identified. Post mortem was being carried out on 18 bodies.

Teams, probing the worst air tragedy in the country in a decade, continued sifting through the wreckage to find all material required for the investigation being carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The Black Box will be brought to Delhi on Monday where it will be examined by Air Safety Directorate of the DGCA to ascertain what went wrong, official sources said.

Experts of the US Federal Aviation Authority, Boeing and air safety firm Kenyon will assist in deciphering the Black Box and the CVR.

A forensic team from Hyderabad carried out DNA tests on the bodies that have been charred beyond recognition.      

158 people, including six crew, were killed in India's worst air disaster in a decade when Air India's budget carrier's flight IX-812 from Dubai crashed at the Bajpe airport on Saturday morning after overshooting the 8,000 feet runway. Eight persons had a miraculous escape.

All the eight survivors of the crash were responding well to treatment at various hospitals here. Doctors said the victims who had suffered cuts, bruises and burn injuries, were out of danger.

Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the local hospitals as grieving relatives collected the victims' mortal remains. In one case, two families from Kerala claimed the same body and authorities said it will handed over only after a DNA test.

The bodies of four crew members were among those yet to be identified. The DNA samples of all the unidentified remains have been sent for testing to Hyderabad.

Dazed relatives and friends of the victims thronged the Government Wenlock Hospital and made efforts through the night at the mortuary to identify their near and dear ones, many of whom were charred to death.         

Air India arranged for counsellors for the relatives of the victims as well as their own crew and staffers, who were traumatised and shocked by the scenes of devastation.     

As operations to retrieve the twisted and charred wreckage continued for the second day, the throttle in the cockpit was recovered by investigators.

It was found in a forward position suggesting that the pilot may have attempted a final thrust before the crash.         

Heavy machinery was also being used to clear the debris scattered over a wide area.

Regarding the compensation package, Air India said it was in talks with insurance companies, including Reliance Insurance and General Insurance Company.     

The airline said it had made arrangements to provide coffins to family members of the victims to shift the bodies after identification.