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Updated 11.15 pm
SIXTEEN GERMAN STUDENTS and two teachers were aboard the crashed Germanwings plane.
The mayor of the German town of Haltern has said the teens are assumed dead.
The group of students were due to return from a school exchange in Barcelona.
Mayor Bodo Klimpel said that the school heard about the crash through the media and had to do their own research into the incident.
“The city is deeply saddened,” he said.
Everyone is in a state of shock. It is the worst thing you can imagine.
The teenagers and their two teachers had been on a week-long exchange trip to Spain, and their names were on the passenger manifest of the Barcelona-Dusseldorf Germanwings flight, Klimpel told a news conference, fighting back tears.
Although rescue crews have not yet reached the crash site in a remote area of the French Alps, “we have to assume the worst,” he said.
Students have turned up to school today to light candles and were told about the incident when it was likely the plane would not land in Düsseldorf.
Tragic deaths
A total of 67 German nationals were on board the passenger jet, which crashed in the southern French Alps earlier today.
“There were 16 children and two teachers who had spent a week here, poor things. The children were aged about 15,” Marti Pujol, mayor of the village of Llinars de Valles near Barcelona, told AFP.
He said the pupils and teachers left for Barcelona airport on Tuesday morning.
Some of the staff at the high school where they had been on an exchange programme knew their flight number and the time of their flight, he said.
The flight run by Germanwings took off from Barcelona at 9.55am (8.55am GMT) bound for Duesseldorf.
“Everyone in Haltern knew that they were due to arrive in Duesseldorf about noon,” Bockey told AFP.
Pujol said pupils at the Instituto Giola which the German visitors had attended during their exchange were being attended to by the Red Cross and psychologists.
The school’s website – which is now down – says that its student exchange with a Barcelona school was due to end on 24 March. The students had gone to Spain on 17 March.
Halterner Zeitung is reporting that the school has set up a crisis management team.
Two German footballers who are from Haltern have tweeted about the tragedy.
Benedikt Howedes said that he comes from Haltern and has many friends and relatives from there.
He added that he is sad and can’t believe about the terrible accident, and wishes friends and relatives of the victims “the strength to get through this”.
Christoph Metzelder turned his Twitter avatar into the black-and-white photo of the Germanwings logo:
- Additional reporting AFP.
- First published 2.30 pm
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Probably because of their youth, the fact that they are all from the same school/community and that their peers will be particularly traumatised dealing with the loss of 16 friends. It doesn’t mean their lives are worth more, just it’s a significant number from one school.
Complete Media disrespect filming family relatives in the airport. Cameramen running after them? Really? As if we ‘need’ to see this to make it more ‘authentic’.
Absolutely disgusting. No need for it. RIP, too young.
Headline should say “Fears that 150 died”. Why single out students? R.I.P to anyone who died
Two newborn babies too apparently.So sad.
Another story, another crap headline on journal.
Apologies if you’re reading this in the future and it has been changed.
Scary! ,could be you or me admiring the view of the Alps one minute then horror the next ! RIP.
If there were 16 students from the same community travelling together and all wiped out, that itself is another tragedy and deserving of a headline, surely?
The headline on our main story says exactly that, ’150 people feared dead as passenger plane crashes in French Alps’ . http://www.thejournal.ie/french-plane-crash-alps-2009701-Mar2015/
This is a separate story on a specific element of a massive tragedy.
I can understand that Ronan but my original comment looks out of place seen as the headline was edited after the point was made.
This is terrible. RIP to all lost and heartfelt condolences to all their loved ones& friends.
I hope all the moaners on this article appreciate how lucky they are that the most upsetting thing for them regarding this story is how the headlines are phrased. There’s people who are upset at this story because it means they’ll never get to spend so much as a single minute with their loved ones ever again.
Really upsetting story. The poor families.
There isn’t a single life on that aeroplane the loss of which isn’t tragic.
The fixation with things like this or the nationalities of those involved seems a little crass.
RIP to every single one of them.
Hi Alan, reporting on the nationalities etc of the victims or possible victims isn’t saying that certain people’s lives are worth more than others. All of the deaths are tragic.
This is a rolling news story and as more details are emerging, we are filling our readers in.
Im going to be hit with red thumbs, but to me a child’s life is more important than an adults or someone elderly in the sense that they have yet to live.
An elderly person has lived a full life, has spent decades on the planet, a child hasn’t even lived 2 decades.
But for family members it doesn’t matter what age the person is.
Thanks for the response, Aoife. Sorry of I wasn’t clear. I don’t think the nationality issue is one of indicating some lives are worth more than others. It’s more the ring-fencing of “our” victims over other nationalities I don’t like. It’s not a dig at the journal either, may other news organisations do it.
The singling out of particular groups in individual articles, such as this one. goes a bit beyond that though. Mentioning it in the main article is one thing but these are 16 potential deceased over 134 others is, in my view, crass. Like I say, There isn’t a single life on that aeroplane the loss of which isn’t tragic.
Rolling story Alan, the headline doesn’t represent the event, just the facts as they come through. Don’t stress over it
If the headline just said 16 schoolchildren then everyone would be asking where are they from.
Alan, they reported the 150 dead in their first story. They now continue to report on who the victims were as further details come in. I’m sure they’ll tell us more about other victims as the details emerge.
I agree Lily, it’s just natural human instinct to protect and care more for our young but I guess that’s not politically correct these days. Of course every life was important on that plane but when I hear it was newborns and school kids I can’t help feeling extra sad
That is so sad for their families and the host families. RIP
Heart felt sorrow for all the families left behind and particularly for a school in mourning. As a parent
I have waited at an airport waiting for my kids to return from a school trip and cannot begin
to imagine the horror of those parents in Dusseldorf are feeling. My thoughts and prayers are with them.
Anybody who’s getting into a flap over the headline needs to check themselves before they wreck themselves.
What a ridiculous headline!
What a ridiculous comment – they are already reporting about the main incident on another post. This post is highlighting the fact there were 16 teenagers from the same school on board. Think of the effects this would have on their friends, families and school.
The poor little crators
So sad, so many of our children go on these exchange trips every year, thoughts with all there families and to all families of the poor people onboard this tragic flight. R.I.P
How come World War Three seems to break out on this site at the slightest provocation. That, and the red thumbs, which aren’t necessary. I’m getting weary of Journal.ie. So many people turning a tragedy into a slanging match. Oh sorry, must go, here’s a red thumb banging at the door.
RIP
I can just imagine the excitement of these teenagers heading off on the trip and their families at the airport looking forward to seeing them after their week away. I have a 15 year old daughter and just can’t imagine never seeing her again. On top of this tragedy is the difficulty of recovering the bodies. What a lonely thought-your loved one lying up in that bleak terrain. Horrible horrible tragedy! My thoughts and prayers for all those involved and for the poor families.
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