Survivors waited for rescue, but it did not come promptly, as the firefighters were initially unaware that there were two aircraft involved and were concentrating on the KLM wreck hundreds of meters away in the thick fog and smoke.
Os supervivintes esperaron polo rescate, pero este non chegou rápido, xa que os bombeiros non foron inicialmente conscientes de que había dous avións involucrados e estaban concentrados no KLM a unha certa distancia entre a densa néboa.