5-year-old boy survives Yemeni crash, 3 bodies recovered

(CNN) - Searchers have recovered the bodies of three people who were aboard a Yemenia Airways jet that crashed off the coast of Comoros in the Indian Ocean, a spokesman for Yemen's Civil Aviation department said Tuesday.

Capt. Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Qadir also told reporters that a child who was reported found alive was a 5-year-old boy. He did not give details of the child's condition.

"The French said that (Wednesday) they will send more French units to the accident location in order to retrieve the bodies and possibly that they may be able to locate people who are still alive," he said.

The Airbus 310 went down early Tuesday, carrying 143 passengers and 11 crewmembers on a flight that originated in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. Qatir said the jet took off from Sanaa shortly before 10 p.m. Monday and vanished from radar when it was about 16 miles from Comoros' capital, Moroni.

Searchers have not yet located the plane's data recorders, Qatir said, and investigators are not speculating on the cause of the crash.

"The weather conditions were indeed very troubling and the winds were very strong, reaching 61 kilometers per hour (38 mph)," he said. "That's one thing. The other thing was that the sea was very rough when the plane approached landing at Moroni airport."

But French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau noted that France banned the A310-300 several years ago because of safety concerns.

"People are talking about poor weather conditions, but for the moment, we are unsure," Bussereau said. "It seems the plane may have attempted an approach, put on the gas, and attempted another approach, which then failed. For the moment, we must be careful because none of this information is verified."