- Title: COMOROS: Plane crash suvivor' s family in Comoros mourn as search continues
- Date: 4th July 2009
- Summary: NIOUMADZAHA, ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF MORONI, COMOROS (JULY 3, 2009) (REUTERS) BAHIA BAKARI'S MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER, KALATHOUMI ATHOUMANI CRYING ATHOUMANI'S FACE AS SHE IS CRYING AUNTY CRYING VARIOUS OF AUNTIES AND ATHOUMANI CRYING EXTERIOR OF ATHOUMANI'S HOME (SOUNDBITE) (Kiswahili) SAID BAKARI, NIOUMADZAHA RESIDENT, SAYING: "This incident has really taken us back as a country. We plan to mark our independence day this month but people have no joy, they cannot celebrate. It is really a big problem. Only one person was found alive, we know people are searching but they have not found even one thing. But we don't know anything at all only that the girl is alive." FRIENDS OF BAHIA'S FAMILY ON THE STREET PLANE CIRCLING INDIAN OCEAN SEARCHING FOR PLANE YOUNG BOY LOOKING ON INTO THE OCEAN
- Embargoed: 19th July 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Comoros
- Country: Comoros
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
- Reuters ID: LVA2E4RRXLS5J8TQBWKKV7NCEABQ
- Story Text: Bahia Bakari's - the sole survivor of the plane that crashed off the comoros - maternal relatives are in mourning as as hopes dwindle of finding any more passengers of the stricken plane alive.
Relatives of the sole survivor of a Yemeni jet that plunged into the Indian Ocean off the Comoros islands spent Friday (July 3) in mourning and prayer as hopes of finding any more survivors dwindle.
Kalathomi Athoumani, the maternal grandmother of 14-year-old Bahia Bakari, wept at her home on the outskirts of Moroni. Bahia clung to floating debris for more than 12 hours before search teams spotted her in rough seas, and her mother is feared dead.
Rescuers have been unable to find any of the remaining 152 passengers and crew since the Yemenia Airbus A310-300 crashed in strong winds in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Bahia was discharged at her father's request and sent to France on Wednesday.
American and French military aircraft scoured the crash site for a third day but failed to locate any wreckage, thought to be in waters up to 500 metres (1,600 ft) deep.
"This incident has really taken us back as a country. We plan to mark our independence day this month but people have no joy, they cannot celebrate. It is really a big problem. Only one person was found alive, we know people are searching but they have not found even one thing. But we don't know anything at all only that the girl is alive," said Said Bakari, who lives in the same village as Bahia's family.
The stricken airliner was coming in to land at Moroni, the Comoran capital, on the final leg of a trip from Paris and Marseille to Comoros via Yemen.
Local rescuers suspect many of the dead remain trapped inside the sunken wreckage. An official from the regional air security body ASECNA said the French navy believed the plane was 350-500 metres below the surface.
The cause of the crash is still unknown.
The airline said there were 75 Comoran passengers on board, along with 65 French nationals, one Palestinian and one Canadian. The crew was comprised of six Yemenis, two Moroccans, one Indonesian, one Ethiopian and a Filipina. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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