Paris ( CNN ) -- The ship carrying the remains of victims and wreckage from the Rio-Paris Air France 447 crash arrived in France on Thursday morning with around 104 bodies on board , according to French police sources . A French police spokesman said `` it is very difficult to give an exact number of bodies , but we believe there to be around 104 . '' AF 447 crashed two years ago close to the coast of Brazil , killing all on board . The Ile-de-Sein , the cable ship chartered by French investigation body the BEA , docked at the port of Bayonne for unloading . All access to the port was blocked by police for the sake of discretion for the families of the victims . Dr. Bernd Gans , father of a German victim , said , `` They showed us pictures of freezing containers , saying this is how the remains were transported . I think it 's right that the families were not present at the port today . '' Once the unloading procedure has been completed , the remains will be sent to the forensic institute in Paris for autopsy and identification . Debris from the aircraft will be sent to a hangar in Toulouse for technical analysis . Colonel Francois Daoust , head of the Institute of Criminal Research of French National police told French press that identification would be made in two stages , ante mortem and post mortem , through the use of medical records , dental records , comparison with DNA of relatives , and identification of jewellery . He also described the state of the bodies : `` These bodies have been damaged by the shock of the crash . And then nature does the job , obviously . The temperature at 2-3 ° and the almost total lack of oxygen slowed the deterioration process , but after two years , the bodies are inevitably damaged . '' Gans told CNN that he had been in Paris Wednesday with other victim 's families . `` They explained to us that they would start identifying the remains recovered in contrast to what we were told a couple of weeks ago that the bodies could be identified by photos or clothes , '' he said . `` It turns out it 's really just a case of remains being identified by DNA . We are afraid that not much remains . `` When we were first told that the bodies could be identified by looking at them I thought ... It 's brilliant . With the way thing are now , I have changed my mind . They died all together at this particular spot and we should have left them there . '' No exact time frame has been given for the process . Daoust told French media , `` It will take time . To give you an idea , identifying the first 50 bodies , two years ago , had taken two months of work . For 104 new bodies , up to 40 people will be mobilized for several weeks . '' Gans described the reaction of two French victims ' relatives at the meeting held for victims relatives . `` They were very emotional at this point . They asked if it could be arranged for all the relatives to get the results at the same time , so that some would n't be waiting whilst others had results . This was denied by representatives . They said this is the order we have for the investigation . When we have results we have to contact families , '' he said . `` The victims ' families will just have to sit and wait . This was very painful to hear . '' Operations onboard the Ile-de-Sein came to an end on June 3 . A total of 154 bodies have now been brought up , however this still leaves more than 70 which will never be recovered . Gans explained , `` Difficult days begin now . Some families will have hope ; will be in this situation of waiting for the next months . Some will have an answer while others will never know . ''
Ship transporting remains and wreckage arrives in France . There are believed to be around 104 bodies . A long process now begins to identify the victims , French authorities say .