Paris: Ceremony at mosque in memory of Yemenia crash victims

Paris: Ceremony at mosque in memory of Yemenia crash victims


Nicolas Sarkozy will attend an inter-religious ceremony at the Paris mosque Thursday in memory of the victims of the Yemenia Airbus A310 crash off the Comoros.

After the crash, the rector of the Paris mosque, Dalil Boubakeur, wanted to express his condolences and his solidarity with our Comorian brothers, so numerous in France, by praying to God that he will grant mercy to all the victims of this new tragedy.  The prayer for the missing would be said at the Paris mosque.  In the same way, the CFCM (French Council of the Muslim Faith) asked all mosques in France to organize this prayer ritual during the weekly Friday prayers on July 3rd.

Thursday evening there would be a similar ceremony at the Notre Dame cathedral. 


The flight originated from France, and the victims are mostly French and Comorian citizens.   The 14 year old girl who survived the crash is native of the Comoros whose family immigrated to France.  Her mother, who was with her on the flight, has not been located.


The teenager who is thought to be the sole survivor of the Indian Ocean aircraft crash was not wearing a life jacket and could not swim, according to her father.


Rescuers found her in the dark in a sea of bodies, clinging to a piece of debris and surrounded by a fuel slick.


"We tried to throw a lifebuoy but she could not grab it so I had to jump in the water to get her," a police rescuer told France's Europe 1 radio.


Named as Bakari Baya, the 14-year-old girl originally lived in Paris before moving to the southern French city of Marseille, and had been travelling with her mother to the Comoros.


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Sources: TF1 (French), SKY (English)

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