00:07. The local time was 04:07. This time was determined from 2 damaged wrist watches recovered from hand baggage.
Two persons who were on the South-Eastern shore of Flat Island, situated approximately 6 nautical miles North of Mauritius, stated that at about the time of the accident (04:07 local time) they had seen a red and yellow coloured object coming down rapidly from an estimated height of 6 to 7 feet above the horizon and disappearing behind Round Island. This evidence emerged only after some days, and, when tested, did not tally with the facts. The direction was different, and the wreckage of the aircraft and the undersea photographs established that there was no "torching", i.e. no flames outside the aircraft. It would appear that they had probably seen a meteorite.
1.2 Injuries to Persons
| Injuries | Crew | Passengers | Others |
| Fatal | 19 | 140 | nil |
| Serious | nil | nil | nil |
| Minor/None | nil | nil |
