A SOUTHAMPTON family is enduring the agonising wait to confirm the probable death of their son and brother.

Stuart Claisse, 45, is believed to have been on board a Boeing 737-800 carrying 114 passengers that crashed in Cameroon on a flight to Nairobi in Kenya.

Search parties are struggling to locate the wreckage of the Kenya Airways plane in remote, rugged and forested terrain.

Mr Claisse, the chief internal auditor for the African operations of the Chevron oil company, lived in Cape Town with his two sons and two daughters and French-born wife Isabelle, who is in the early stages of pregnancy.

He is thought to have been one of five Britons on the flight.

A lifelong Saints fan, Mr Claisse grew up in Southampton from the age of five, later attending King Edward VI school before studying at Kingston Polytechnic.

His brother, Matthew Claisse, an investment bank consultant, lives locally as does his father David, 75, the retired headmaster of Holy Family Primary School in Millbrook.

Mr Claisse, 44, of Russell Place, Portswood, told the Daily Echo last night: "The chances of him being alive are pretty minimal.

"He was definitely on the plane. The uncertainty of not knowing is dreadful.

Devastated "For all of us, it is terrible. We are devastated by the whole thing.

"This has just come out of the blue, a complete shock. We don't know how to react. It's hard to take the news on board.

"Gradually it is starting to sink in what has happened to him. Nobody knows when we will know for sure.

"The information we are getting from the news agencies is quite poor.

"At first we were told the plane came down in dense jungle. Now it could be a swamp. Chevron have been incredibly good in providing the support we need.

Devoted Mr Claisse, holding back tears, spoke about his older brother: "Stuart was a family man. The two things that drove him were his family and his job.

"He is completely devoted to Chevron, but he was also a devoted family man. He had four children whom he adored. He wanted to see them as much as possible. This was a really important time for him, seeing them grow.

"We used to talk all the time. He was a Saints supporter. He enjoyed his football.

"He had a season ticket a few year ago and followed the club's fortunes on the Internet. He was excited by the match today. I told him I was going and he said he wished he had been able to go. He grew up in Southampton and has a lot of friends in the Southampton area.

"We saw him last February and he wanted us to visit them at New Year."