Jul 13, 2009, 11:04 GMT
Paris - Around 180 relatives of the victims of the Yemen Airways (Yemenia) plane crash off the Comoros Islands were provided a flight taking off from France to the island republic on Monday, the French Foreign Ministry said.
The airline's insurer chartered a plane from France's Blue Line to bring the relatives to the Cormoran capital Moroni. A representative for the relatives Christine Robichon as well as Comoros ambassador to France Abdallah Mirghane were also aboard.
The special flight was criticized by Comorans living in France, because the relatives while not having to pay for the flight did have to pay for the flight insurance. The relatives were also limited to a six-day stay in the Comoros.
Of the 153 people onboard Yemenia Flight IY626 that plunged into the Indian Ocean on June 30, only a 12-year-old French girl of Comoran origin survived.
Around two dozen bodies thought to have been on the doomed plane have been recovered so far.
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