A Yemenia airline Airbus A310 is reported to have crashed in the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands.

The crash follows a month after another Airbus, operated by Air France, went down in the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Brazil, killing 228 passengers.

The plane which crashed last night disappeared from radar screens between Yemen and the Comores, according to airport sources. It was carrying 142 passengers and 11 crew members, who had originally boarded the flight at Roissy (Paris) and Marseille in France.

Some bodies have been found near the Comoros and a French search team has been dispatched. According to sources, the plane had on board 66 French citizens, 40 of whom boarded at Roissy and 26 at Marignane (Marseille).

French sources said the weather was cloudy and windy at the time of the accident. The French transport secretary, Dominique Bussereau, confirmed on the Europe 1 television channel that the crash might have been caused by bad weather. Sources said the control tower in the Comores did all it could to help the plane, but in vain.

Yemenia is not a blacklisted airline in France, so the government will in one way or another be part of the investigation, Bussereau said. Two battalions from the national marines have already been sent to the Comores.

Yemen has announced that some bodies have been found. According to a Yemeni official, the aircraft had failed to land on its first attempt and was about to try a second time when it crashed. But Bussereau warned that this information was unverified informations.

Report translated from the original French by Michael Tantoh.

* The airline announced on its website that the aircraft was flight number IY626, travelling from Sana’a in Yemen to Moroni in the Comores. The aircraft was an Airbus 310-300, it said.

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