The children are being treated at the intensive-care units at the hospital.

"The next 48 hours are crucial," he said.

The airport in Yichun, which was closed after the accident, reopened on Thursday with the first landing 40 hours after the plane crash.

An Airbus 320, run by China Southern Airlines, landed at the Yichun Airport at around 12:45 pm with 62 passengers, Xinhua reported.

The flight carried some family members of the victims.

Liu Hang with Henan Airlines said that the airline, based in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, has opened three hotlines to help victims' families.

The airline also set up a reception desk at the Harbin Airport to send families of the victims to Yichun.

All Henan Airlines flights are still grounded as of Thursday.

Xinhua cited sources with the city government saying that 329 family members had already arrived at Yichun by bus and by train before the China Southern plane arrived on Thursday.

Zheng Qiuhua from Fujian province said eight family members and one colleague of his cousin, Zheng Qiugui - one of the 42 victims of the crash - arrived at Yichun on Thursday.

They were sent to Yichun and arrangements were made for them to stay at a hotel. The father of his dead cousin will conduct a DNA test to help confirm the body of his cousin, Zheng Qiuhua said.

But they were still not told when and where they would be able to see the body, which is the most important thing for Zheng's family now, he said.

Zheng Qiugui, who was 25, was a sales manager of a metal products company in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. He was flying to Yichun to attend the annual steel meeting on behalf of his company. Zheng Qiugui's son is only one year old. "We hope they (the airline staff) can understand our feelings and let us see my cousin as soon as possible. They asked us to stay at the hotel and wait, but how can we be in the mood to enjoy the hotel facilities now?" Zheng Qiuhua said.

"We'd rather not sleep nor eat, if we can see my cousin's body now."

Yichun government officials said they have formed a work team to comfort the victims' families and would arrange DNA tests to hasten the body-claiming process.