Sole survivor flies home to Paris

Last update: July 2, 2009 - 7:44 PM

A severely bruised young girl believed to be the only survivor of an Indian Ocean plane crash flew home Thursday to Paris, where she was embraced gently by her father, who tried to lift her spirits with a joke. He said he asked her, "'Was the return trip OK?' ... We joked a little, the two of us." Bahia Bakari, 12, described by her father as a fragile girl who could barely swim, spent more than 13 hours in the water clinging to wreckage after Yemenia Flight 626 crashed Tuesday off the Comoros. Television station France 2 carried a brief interview with Bahia in which she appeared dazed and gave mostly one-word answers. The girl had not been told yet that her mother, who was also on the plane, was presumed dead.

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