The new figure of 159 was given by Salzburg police chief Major Franz Lang. The previous figure had been 155 "with 90 per cent probability".

On Monday morning the first 29 bodies were removed from the main tunnel where the Kitzsteinhorn mountain train burned out on Saturday. The Salzburg City department of forensic medicine said some of the bodies had already been brought there by helicopter.

Lang said the salvage operation was going ahead at full speed. At a press conference, he said he could not predict when all the bodies would be recovered. The number of victims might still be higher, but not very much. The DNA analysis in Salzburg needed to identify them would take three to four days, said the police chief.

Reports on Monday said the salvage operation was threatened by strong winds on the Kitzsteinhorn mountain. "Austro Control" weather forecast service said that at 1,500 metres, about the altitude where the disaster happened, winds could go up to 50 to 80 kilometres per hour, with gusts up to 120.

There was a possibility that 200 k.p.h. gale force winds still higher up on the mountain could come downwards, making helicopter flights impossible.

(la/dpa)