A Yemeni Airbus which was carrying 153 persons crashed into stormy seas as it came into land in the Comoros islands.

French government is assisting the relief efforts as a number of passenger were French nationals. A doctor, Halidi Ahmed Abdou, at a medical centre opened for survivors has said that a doctor from the military hospital aboard one of the rescue boats called the Mitsamiouli hospital to tell them a child had been rescued alive.

Wreckage from the Yemenia airline flight were spotted in the Indian Ocean near the island archipelago capital, Moroni, aviation officials said. A rescue operation was launched to try to find survivors. There were 142 passengers and 11 crew on the Yemenia airline flight which had started in Paris early Monday and made stops in Marseille, Sanaa and Djibouti.