Sole known survivor of Yemen crash flies to Paris
Moroni, Comoros: Despite a fractured collarbone, a teenage girl clung to the wreckage of a plane for more than 13 hours before rescuers found her floating in the Indian Ocean, authorities said.
The only known survivor of the crash, she was being flown back to Paris on Wednesday night.
The Yemenia Airbus 310 jet was carrying 153 people when it went down in howling winds early yesterday in the sea north of the Comoros Islands.
French officials late on Wednesday retracted claims that one of the plane’s black boxes had been found.
An Associated Press reporter saw 14-year-old Bahia Bakari in a Comoros hospital as she was visited by government officials. She was conscious with bruises on her face and gauze bandages on her right elbow and right foot.
Her uncle, Joseph Yousouf, said Bahia also had a fracture on her collarbone.
"It is a true miracle. She is a courageous young girl," Alain Joyandet, France’s minister for international cooperation, said at the hospital adding that Bahia held onto a piece of the plane from 0130 am yesterday to 0300 pm, then signaled a passing boat, which rescued her.
The girl’s father told French radio that his oldest daughter could "barely swim" but managed to hang on. Kassim Bakari, who spoke with his oldest daughter by phone, said Bahia was ejected and found herself beside the plane.
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Posted by News Team
on Jul 2nd, 2009 and filed under International, News.
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