Yemeni passenger plane with 153 people onboard crashes into Indian Ocean

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

(File photo) A Yemenia Airways A310
Image: Aleks B..

According to reports, a Yemenia Airways Airbus A310 passenger jet has crashed into the Indian Ocean near the island nation of Comoros. At least 153 people were onboard the aircraft, 66 of them from Paris, France. So far the only reported survivor is a teenage girl. The plane crashed early Tuesday morning.

Yemenia Airways Flight 626 was traveling from Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, to Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport in Comoros.

Comoros lies nearly 200 miles from mainland Africa. The small, three island nation has a population of just under 800,000 with a combined military and police force of around 1,000. Comoros has no navy, leaving it with little to no sea rescue resources.

"We really have no sea rescue capabilities," said an unnamed police official.

The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.


Sources

  Learn more about Comoros and Yemenia Flight 626 on Wikipedia.