Foreign
GERMANY and France are marking the fifth anniversary of the Germanwings aeroplane crash on Tuesday, although commemorative events had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
On March 24, 2015, an aeroplane carrying 144 passengers and six crew members crashed into a mountainside in the French Alps, killing everyone on board.
French investigators believe the mentally ill co-pilot caused the crash on purpose. The victims came from 17 countries, with Germany and Spain counting the most deaths.
Gatherings to remember those who were killed were cancelled in southern France near the site of the crash and in the town of Haltern, western Germany, which lost 16 school pupils and two teachers in the accident. They had been returning from a school exchange in Spain.
In spite of far-reaching restrictions on people’s movements to slow the spread of coronavirus, a wreath is to be laid at the cemetery in the village of Le Vernet, near the site of the crash.
There is a communal grave there, containing the remains of crash victims, who could no longer be identified.
In Haltern, church bells will ring across the town at 10.41 a.m. (0941), the time the tragedy occurred.
And at 7.00 p.m., housebound residents have been urged to light a candle in their window in memory of the victims. (dpa/NAN)
– Mar. 24, 2020 @ 13:07 GMT |
Tags: 5 years later Germanwings victims remembered despite coronavirus
