An airliner belonging to the Yemeni state airline has crashed off the Indian ocean archipelago of Comoros.

The plane was carrying 150 passengers and crew, according to the Reuters news agency.

"We don't know if there are any survivors among the 150 people on the plane," Idi Nadhoim, the Comoros vice-president, told Reuters from the airport in the capital Moroni.

He said the accident happened in the early hours of Tuesday, but had no further details.

A Comoran police official said the aircraft was believed to have come down in the sea, but that the country has no sea rescue capabilities.

The Comoros covers three small volcanic islands situated 300km northwest of Madagascar and a similar distance east of the African mainland.

According to the Yemenia website, the airline uses the Airbus A310 aircraft on the route between Moroni and the Yemeni capital, Sana'a.