Comorans begun a 30-day period of national mourning on Friday for the victims of a Yemenia Airbus that crashed off the Indian Ocean island's coast this week with 153 people on board. --PHOTO: AFP
MORONI - COMORANS begun a 30-day period of national mourning on Friday for the victims of a Yemenia Airbus that crashed off the Indian Ocean island's coast this week with 153 people on board.
ALAIN Bernardini, captain of a French patrol plane, said a wheel, windows and other debris were spotted on Tuesday when the distress signal was picked. Since then, search teams have failed to locate the precise crash spot, he explained.
'We are only seeing very scattered debris which we cannot easily identify,' Capt Bernardini told reporters aboard the search plane.
'From today, our country is in a period of mourning for 30 days,' President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi announced on state television late on Thursday.
Mr Sambi, who cut short his attendance at an African Union summit in Libya, urged former colonial power France to help establish the cause of the crash which happened as the plane attempted to land in the capital Moroni on Tuesday.
Only one passenger - a 12-year-old girl - of the 142 and 11 crew survived the disaster. Sixty-six French nationals were also aboard the craft.
The president also warned local politicians against taking advantage of the disaster for selfish gains.
'I urge politicians not to make political gains from this tragedy. Let us respect those who have lost their lives,' he said, without elaborating.
On Thursday, Mr Sambi said rescuers had yet to recover any bodies from the site of the crash and appealed for more international help.
Rescuers embarked on a fourth day of search on Friday, but there was little hope of finding any bodies or the wreckage of the downed plane.
Aerial patrols late on Thursday spotted fewer debris at the site of crash as waves scattered them over large areas while some had sunk. -- AFP
