Paris Trial for 2009 Plane Crash That Left 152 Dead, 1 Alive

Rescuers gather at Galawa Beach, 35 kilometers from Moroni, as they prepare to search the area after a Yemenia Airbus passenger plane crashed into the Indian Ocean off the island nation of Comoros on June 30, 2009, as it attempted to land in the dark amid howling winds, in Comoros, on July 1, 2009. Sayyid Azim/AP Photo

PARIS—The lone survivor of a 2009 passenger plane crash in the Indian Ocean that killed 152 people sat in the front row of a Paris courtroom Monday at the opening of the trial of the Yemeni airline which operated the flight.

Bahia Bakari, who has called her survival “a miracle,” sat in silence as the victims’ names were read out at the start of the proceedings in a room heavy with emotion.