Yemenia Airways have been handed the maximum fine by a French court over a fatal plane crash in Comoros in 2009. The airline was ordered to pay a 225,000 euro ($225,045) fin, as well as more than one million euros in damages and legal costs.
“French justice has acknowledged that Yemenia committed serious mistakes,” said Said Assoumani, head of the victims’ families association. “The ruling is excellent and consistent with our expectations.”
It has always denied any responsibility for the crash that killed 152 people, including 65 French citizens. Yemenia has indicated that it will appeal the verdict, the company has 10 days to appeal the court’s decision.
Flight 626 was heading from Paris to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros islands, after stopping in Marseille and Sanaa in Yemen.
The aircraft went down during strong winds in the Indian Ocean, around 15 kilometres off the Comorian coast on 30 June. All but one of the 142 passengers and 11 crew members on board the Airbus A310 died.
Image Credit: Sayyid Azim/AP, File
