Teenage Air Crash Survivor Reunited With Family

French gov't flies 14-year-old to Paris
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 2, 2009 4:34 AM CDT
Teenage Air Crash Survivor Reunited With Family
Surrounded by doctors, the only survivor of the Yemenia Airbus 310 jet crash, 14-year-old Bahia Bakari, is seen in a hospital bed.   (AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)

The young girl believed to be the only survivor of Tuesday's Indian Ocean plane crash flew back to Paris today, to the waiting arms of her father and siblings. Bahia Bakari, 14, returned to France alongside a government minister and other French officials. The other 151 people on Yemenia flight 626, including her mother, are presumed dead.

Bahia, described by her father as a fragile girl who could barely swim, spent over 13 hours in the water before she was rescued. She was found hanging onto a piece of the plane, suffering from hypothermia, a broken collarbone and bruises. "It is a miracle, it is an absolutely extraordinary battle for survival," said the minister who accompanied her. "We will do everything we can to help her." (More Bahia Bakari stories.)

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