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Jet crash girl, 12, tells how she clung to debris as others died
Peter Allen, in Paris25.08.09
A girl who was the only survivor of a plane crash in which 152 crew and passengers died spoke publicly today for the first time about her ordeal.
Bahia Bakari, who was 12 at the time of the disaster in June, said she could remember the Airbus A310 "shaking" moments before it broke up and crashed into the Indian Ocean.
She was rescued after spending 13 hours in shark-infested waters, sleeping for much of it on a piece of debris as she waited for help.
"I remember that I was sat next to my mother, who was tired, and so was I," said Bahia, from Paris, in a radio interview today. "There were lots of people sleeping in the plane.
"There was a little boy playing behind me who kept kicking my seat. And there was a man who asked for a bit of toothpaste because he wanted to clean his teeth.
"I saw by the porthole - the plane was shaking. We were asked to fasten our seat belts, not because of turbulence, but because we were about to land."
Bahia sensed something was wrong because she had never experienced a plane shuddering so violently.
"It was strange," she said. Bahia was thrown clear of the Yemenia Airways plane as it tried to land in the Comoros Islands, near Madagascar. Her first thoughts were for her mother, Aziza, as she found herself clinging to a piece of wreckage in the sea.
"Others were alive in the water. I heard women crying. They appeared to be near me and were pleading for help. But I did not see them, or know where I was. I tried to join them so I wouldn't be alone, but it was difficult. I was tired, and there were waves.
"When I found myself back in the water, I said to myself that it was necessary to stay awake and that rescuers would not be late arriving. But I stayed awake and I saw nothing. Then I fell asleep. In the morning I again remained hopeful. But then I said to myself, that's that, they're not going to find me.
"Then I heard the voices of men who had come to rescue me but I could not reach the life buoy and someone had to jump into the water to help me. At first, in the hospital, he said to me, 'Yes, your mother won't be late in arriving.' Me, I didn't know anything, I believed it was true."
A psychologist at the hospital in the Comoros capital of Moroni told her: "I don't think your mother is coming. You're the sole survivor." Bahia said: "That's the moment I knew."
Bahia and her mother were travelling from Paris to the Comoros via Marseille and Sana'a, Yemen. They are believed to have been sitting towards the front of the plane, behind the reinforced partition which separates passengers from pilots.
As the 19-year-old plane came into land in gusts of up to 70mph it began to break up. The aircraft was in a poor condition, having failed safety checks in France two years ago.
Bahia is back at her home in Corbeil-Essonnes, on the outskirts of the French capital, with her father, Kassim, brothers Badian,10, Badrou, seven, and Badawy, two.
She is only the 13th person to become the sole survivor of an air crash since 1970.
Bahia's youthful fitness and her inability to swim may have saved her. Instead of panicking - which would have wasted vital energy - she stayed in the same spot, sleeping, so conserving her strength.
Yemenia, which is owned jointly by Yemeni and Saudi Arabian interests, has denied French claims that the Airbus A310 was not airworthy.
An investigation has begun, with prosecutions likely if people are found to have been at fault.
Reader views (2)
Thats my God, who seems to make a way where there seemeth not a way.
- Tracey Bonds, Jasper, Ga.
This girl´s survival was nothing short of a miracle. Let´s hope she eventually makes a complete recovery, physically and mentally.
- Graham Rodhouse, Helmond, Netherlands
