Thirteen years after the crash that left 152 dead, the Yemenia trial is eagerly awaited in Marseille
On June 29, 2009, about fifteen kilometers from its destination, the Yemenia company’s A310 – flight 626 – got lost in the Indian Ocean. 152 dead: 141 passengers including 66 French from the Comoros. Only one survivor: Bahia, 12, spent 11 hours clinging to the debris of the Airbus, saved by a fisherman. The Yemenia company is accused of “negligence” in the training of pilots and of having maintained night flights despite the malfunctioning of the lighting at Moroni airport in the Comoros. The families of the victims denounce garbage planes.
The trauma is immense in Marseille where many victims lived. Marseille is in a way the second capital of the Comoros, its most important city in any case: 80,000 people form the Comorian community of the Marseille city. This is 10% of the Marseille population. Made to measure the shock of the tragedy and the great expectation before the first criminal trial in connection with the air disaster.
Ibrahim lost his mother, brother and sister
We find Ibrahim in the Parc de l’Oasis, in the 15th arrondissement of Marseille. Just before his departure to follow the trial in Paris. 43 years old, he lost the essentials in a few seconds, the time of a call in the middle of the night. He was living in Paris at the time. Rescued from a distance. “I quickly understood the inevitable. We would not find them. It was over. It changed everything. Everything collapsed… and we have to start living again”. He takes the first train to Marseille and discovers his community “stopped”, pending the list of missing. Very quickly, he learns that Bahia has been found by fishermen. I hope. Not long.
Responses to the disaster: his life in Paris implodes, he leaves his wife, and the child who has just been born six months before the crash… He returns to live in Marseille, his hometown. Survive in Marseilles. “For three years, I saw the Yemenia plane crossing the city. Night and day. And my relatives too”. He often hears the last phone call to his mother, in the departure lounge at Marseille airport. His mother: “Everything is fine, all the formalities went well…” “She was calm.”
“I blame myself for letting my family on board. It could have been us. And they were the victims” – Ibrahim
Ibrahim testifies without flinching, in a clear and assured voice. He is used to testifying. To advance the cause of all: the truth. Ibrahim has followed the therapy that helps him with this apparent setback. He doesn’t dwell on his pain. He contains his anger.
Survivor’s guilt
The eldest of the siblings had taken the plane of death six months before. “Parked like cattle in Sanaa (capital of Yemen – last stopover of a journey of nearly 24 hours) before taking the correspondence for the Comoros. We experienced the contempt of this company. They even locked the gates to the departure lounge. For fear that we escape? And the last plane! The unsealed seats, the unhooked shelves, the hand luggage compartments that open at the slightest jolt… It was pathetic”. The flight conditions had been denounced before the tragedy, in vain. “It could have been us, the victims. And it was them. I’m terribly sorry for having let my family board when I knew that this plane was not up to standard”. His colleague Saïd Assoumani sums up everyone’s feeling: “We were treated like second-class people.”
The truth trial
Psychotherapy partially saved Ibrahim. She is not finished. Decisive step with the trial. “13 years later, I can’t explain to my children what happened. An accident… and then what? The trial should help us”.
70 Marseillais took the busPorte d’Aix, this Sunday evening to reach the capital and attend the trial from May 9 to June 2. 560 civil parties! On May 23, Bahia, the survivor, will testify. This is the most awaited moment. The Court is executed by the experienced judge who officiated in the Mediator’s trial. Accused, the president of Yemenia Airlines did not make the trip, indirectly because of the unrest in the country. The desertion shocks the families who have long deplored the attitude of the national company. More than a third of the victims have still not been compensated. The accused box will therefore be empty. You will have to settle for a lawyer.
“We never wanted to put this tragedy on the back of fate. It’s the trial of garbage planes, of incompetence” – Saïd Assoumani president of the association of families of victims of Yemenia
The garbage plane trial
“This criminal trial has been the focus of our fight since day one.” Said Assoumani lives in Marseilles. He lost his 47-year-old big sister, the one who brought him to France, his second mother. His therapy is his tireless involvement in the group of families of victims. The best of tributes to his sister Compass, who lived in the 4th arrondissement of Marseille at La Blancarde. He chairs the association which brings together 815 relatives of the victims: “We never wanted to put this drama on the back of fatality, of destiny. For us, this is an opportunity to put garbage planes on trial, irresponsibility, incompetence. We want the maximum penalty and that Yemenia planes no longer fly in Europe”.
The duty of memory for young Comorians
The important moments of the trial will be broadcast to the Marseilles court for families who cannot travel to Paris. Nawell, 20, is part of this new generation of Comorians from Marseille, a discreet, invisible community, but which today demands accountability.. She wants to attend the trial from her home in Marseille. “No, this is not an event like any other! No, the Comorians are not victims! We are strong and we want to know so that Yemenia can give light to our deceased, so that they can finally find peace . And also so that no aircraft of this company can fly anymore”.
Nawell was 7 years old. She remembers her mother’s shrill cry when she picks up the phone at one o’clock in the morning. His uncle was on the plane. She forgets nothing, she refuses to be forgotten. “Duty of memory, quite simply”.
- This will be the only criminal trial. Comoros has not initiated any proceedings.