Plane with 14 people on board crashes in Comoros

Rescuers in Comoros on Saturday scrambled to find survivors and the wreckage of a plane carrying 14 people that crashed in the Indian Ocean archipelago on Saturday.

Airline AB Aviation said its small Cessna plane disappeared from the radar about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) from its destination during its flight between the capital Moroni and the city of Fomboni on the island of Moheli.

“Search operations… have begun to find the aircraft’s debris in the coastal area of Djoiezi confirming the crash,” the Comorian transport ministry said in a statement.

The Comorian government said the 12 passengers were Comorian and that the two pilots were Tanzanian.

The authorities said fishing boats and at least one speedboat rapidly deployed towards the position where the plane’s signal was lost.

Support is being offered to the affected families on Moheli and Moroni’s island of Grande Comore.