Comoros/France/Yemen

Comoros mourns air crash dead

Article published on the 2009-07-03 Latest update 2009-07-03 15:41 TU

A U.S. military plane joins the search for the missing Yemania Airbus which crashed off the Comoros on Tuesday
(Photo: Reuters)

Comorans began 30 days of national mourning on Friday for the victims of the Yemenia Airbus crash as French President Nicolas Sarkozy named a special envoy to liaise with the families of the victims.

There was just one survivor among the 153 people on board after the airliner crashed into the sea while making a second approach to land at Moroni airport early Tuesday.

"From today, our country is in a period of mourning for 30 days," President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi announced on state television on Thursday.

The president said that no bodies been recovered from the sea and appealed for more international help.

Heavy seas have also made it difficult to pinpoint the location of the crash although Ali Djambae, the police commander coordinating the operations, said that divers had spotted a yellow door and now believed they may have found it north of the capital Moroni.

"Our divers identified an area with a slick of fuel in the Mitsamiouli area," Djambae told reporters. “We have sent our speedboats to fetch the door and analyse it."

Criticism of the French government by the victims’ families led to President Sarkozy naming Christine Robichon, a former French ambassador to Sudan, as a special envoy to liaise with them. Sixty-six French nationals were on board the plane.

"Following a proposal from Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the president decided to appoint an ambassador charged with the follow-up to the catastrophe," said foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.

Robichon met with the families on Thursday to start examining their demands. According to Chevallier, she “will work on the various requests from the victims' families, including the chartering of an aircraft to carry them closer to the crash site".

French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said Yemenia must make "very big efforts" to avoid being blacklisted following the crash.

"This company is under strict surveillance," he told French radio. "If it does not want to go on the black list, it will have to make big efforts, very big efforts."

The airline announced on Thursday that it was suspending flights to and from the Mediterranean port city of Marseille.