Girl survives Yemen plane crash

Yemeni authorities said the plane conformed to international standards

Details have emerged about the rescue of the only person known to have survived the crash of a Yemeni-operated plane off the Comoros islands.

A French rescuer said he had spotted the 14-year-old-girl in choppy waters amid bodies and wreckage. He said she was shaking as he pulled her up.

The girl was taken to a hospital in capital of the Comoros, Moroni. Five bodies have also been recovered.

The plane came down in bad weather with about 153 people on board on Tuesday.

The rescuer told France's Europe 1 radio of finding the girl.

"We tried to throw a life buoy. She could not grab it. I had to jump in the water to get her," he said.

"She was shaking, shaking. We put four sheets on her. We gave her hot, sugary water. We simply asked her name, village."

FLIGHT IY626 Airbus A310-300 aircraft, built in 1990 153 people on board, including 66 French nationals Flight originated in Paris, using modern Airbus A330-200 Stopped in Marseille before flying to Sanaa Passengers moved to A310-300 Stopover in Djibouti Comorans 'warned of flight safety' 'We are praying for a miracle' In pictures: Yemeni plane crash Timeline of Flight IY626 Ties that bind: Comoros and France EU wants world blacklist Air disasters timeline

Dr Ada Mansour, who treated the child in hospital, told AFP she was conscious and talking, but added: "We are trying to warm her up because she was freezing."

It is believed the girl lives in Marseille and was travelling with her mother to the Comoros.

There were 66 French nationals on board, and the French military were involved in the search.

Most of the plane's passengers had flown on a different Yemenia aircraft from Paris or Marseille before boarding flight IY626 in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen.

The French transport ministry had earlier said the Airbus 310 plane had been banned from France because of "irregularities".

The crash was the second involving an Airbus aircraft in recent weeks. On 1 June an Air France Airbus 330 travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris plunged into the Atlantic, killing all 228 people on board.

An airline spokesman said poor weather was more likely to have been a factor in the crash than the condition of the plane.

Yemeni Transport Minister Khaled Ibrahim al-Wazeer also told Reuters news agency that the plane had recently undergone a thorough inspection overseen by Airbus and conformed to international standards.

Gen Bruno de Bourdoncle de Saint-Salvy, French naval commander in the Indian Ocean, said the plane had come down about 15km (eight nautical miles) north of the Comoran coast.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version