Crash-hit airline suspends flights

It is a small and bittersweet victory for members of France’s Comoran community, after Tuesday’s plane crash that left more than 150 people dead.

Under pressure from protesters claiming its aircraft are in a poor condition, the Yemenia airline has indefinitely suspended flights between Marseille and Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

It had already cancelled two flights from the French airport following demonstrations there. And, while maintaining it follows the highest safety standards,
Yemenia has now gone one step further, in the current climate, vowing to reimburse tickets.

The sole survivor from its jet that plunged into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros has been flown home to France.

Suffering relatively minor injuries, 12-year-old Bahia Bakari clung to floating debris for hours
before being rescued.

But her mother did not make it out alive from the stricken Airbus A310 and, despite an ongoing search, the Comoran community knows hopes of another miracle find are all but over.

In the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, a religious remembrance service for victims of the crash has been held at the Grand Mosque of Paris.