The Dutch Foreign Ministry has announced on Thursday that the number of Dutch citizens who perished in the Tripoli crash on Wednesday has risen to 70.

The figure reported till now was 61 out of the 103 victims. The only person to have miraculously survived the crash is a nine-year-old Dutch boy.

Identified only as "Ruben" by the Dutch foreign ministry but fully named by Dutch media as nine-year-old Ruben van Assouw, he has come round after surgery in a Tripoli hospital to his smashed legs, the doctor treating said.

"At the moment he's quite stable after the operation which was done this evening. He could speak and we have good intensive care doctors who are taking care of him after the operation."

Search for clues
Aviation experts combed through debris for more clues on Thursday after finding the two black boxes from the Airbus jet.

Shortly after the plane came down, the Libyan authorities announced the crash was not the result of a terrorist attack.

Aviation experts said the almost-brand-new Airbus appeared to have hit the ground several hundred metres short of the Tripoli airport runway in visibility of 5km to 6km.

They said the airport approach lacked systems to provide crew with the aircraft's distance and height from the runway, although it was too early to say why it hit the ground and broke in pieces. Only the tailfin remained intact.

On Tuesday, Morocco closed eight airports because of an ash cloud from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

However, the idea that ash particles blocked the plane’s motor is said by aviation expert Hans Heerkens to be unlikely. Other possible causes are fire on board, pilot fatigue and technical problems. The aircraft was delivered in September 2009 and had only made 1600 flights.

Dutch campaign suspended
In the wake of the crash, Dutch political parties have decided to suspend their election campaigns.

The campaign strategist for caretaker Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrat party, Michael Sijbom, said: "Out of respect for the victims, we have decided to take a few days rest" from campaigning. He was speaking on behalf of all the major political parties.

A televised debate scheduled on Wednesday evening between Green Left leader Femke Halsema and Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, a Christian Democrat, was cancelled. Other events, including all forms of canvassing, have also been suspended.

Parties began preliminary campaigning for the 9 June parliamentary election some time ago even though the official campaign as usual begins just four weeks before polling day.