Search teams retrieved a body from the wreckage of the Air France airbus that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, the French Interior Ministry said.

The body was still attached to a seat and “appeared degraded,” the ministry added in a written statement.

“The attempts to bring up the bodies were made in particularly complex conditions. Considerable uncertainties still remain regarding the technical feasibility of recovering the bodies,” the French Ministry statement said.

DNA samples from the remains — recovered from a depth of 3900 meters (12,700 feet) – will be sent to a laboratory for analysis, the statement added.

Thursday’s announcement came days after the flight recorders were located.

All 228 people aboard the Airbus A330 Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris were killed on June 1, 2009. Until now, 50 bodies had been recovered on the surface after the crash.

However, some relatives of those who died have expressed reservations about remains being brought to the surface.

(Source: CNN)