A French court will begin hearings on Monday in the case of the 2009 disaster of a Yemenia Airways aircraft, which killed 152 people but miraculously saved a 12-year-old girl.
The Yemeni national airline, whose officials will not appear in court owing to the country’s ongoing civil conflict, faces a maximum penalties of 225,000 euros ($240,000) for involuntary homicide and injuries in a four-week trial.
Flight Yemenia 626 was on approach to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros islands between Mozambique and Madagascar, on June 29, 2009. France controls a portion of the archipelago as the overseas department of Mayotte.
There were 66 French people among the 142 passengers and 11 staff who had transferred at the airport in Yemen’s capital Sanaa.