All on board Comoros plane survive crash
Twenty-nine people pulled out of the Indian Ocean waters after Brazilian-made aircraft crashes after takeoff.
Twenty-nine people have survived after the plane they were travelling in crashed into the Indian Ocean, minutes after it took off from the Comoros, a chain of islands off the south-east coast of Africa.
The Embraer jet suffered mechanical problems about 200m away from Moroni airport from where it chartered, officials said.
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Abu Mohamed Ali, director general of Civil Aviation for the Comoros Islands, said all 29 people on board – 25 passengers and four crew – were safe.
The pilot suffered head injuries while the rest were unhurt.
The plane, belonging to Inter-Iles, had been bound for the neighbouring island of Anjouan.
A senior military official who gave his name only as Zarouk and was on board the plane, said the aircraft fuel was leaking “like an open tap” upon take-off.
He alerted the pilot who decided to return to the airport, but was unable to land in time, instead plunging into the sea.
Fishermen appeared to have led the search-and-rescue operation.
In June 2009, a Yemeni Airbus 310-300 plunged into the Indian Ocean in bad weather off the Comoros archipelago, killing 152 people who were on board.