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Signal From Yemenia Black Boxes Detected

05 July 2009

The French agency investigating last week's crash of a Yemeni airliner off Comoros says signals from the plane's black boxes have been detected.

The BEA said in a statement the signals were picked up Sunday during an underwater search.

Investigators continue to look for the boxes which contain vital information on the flight's final minutes.

The Yemenia Air flight went down in the Indian Ocean on Tuesday, killing 152 people.  One passenger, a 12-year-old girl, survived.

On Saturday, Yemen's transportation ministry said a U.S. search team has found a large section from the plane.

Also Saturday, at least 10,000 people of Comoran origin marched through the streets of the southern French city of Marseille to mourn those who died in the plane crash and to vent anger at the airline.

In recent days, expatriate Comorans have held protests at airports in Marseille and Paris leading Yemenia airlines to cancel flights between the French cities and the Comoran capital, Moroni.

The cause of the crash remains unclear.  Witnesses reported high winds in Comoros at the time of the crash, while French officials say inspectors found a number of faults with the airplane during a 2007 inspection.

The Comoros is made up of three islands about 300 kilometers northwest of Madagascar, in the Mozambique channel.  

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP. 



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