SANAA - US SEARCH crews have located large debris from the Yemenia plane which crashed earlier this week into the sea off the Comoros Islands killing all but one of the 153 people on board, officials said.

The debris was spotted floating on the surface of the Indian Ocean by a US helicopter, a civil aviation commission linked to the transport ministry said in a statement carried by the state Saba news agency.

'Helicopters of the American team which is taking part in search operations have found a large piece of the aircraft floating on the surface of the sea near the coast of the Comoros,' the statement said.

'The American team is currently trying to recover the piece.' US recovery teams have been cooperating with French, Yemeni and Comoran authorities to search for bodies and debris of the ill-fated aircraft which crashed on Tuesday.

A statement by the commission, carried on Friday night by Saba, indicated that divers had recovered debris from the plane.

Yemenia Airbus A310 plunged into the sea at the end of a journey which started in France. Only one person, a 12-year-old girl, survived the tragedy and is now recovering in a Paris hospital. -- AFP

Read also:
All flights cancelled
France threatens Yemenia