Confirming on Tuesday that its flight 4U9525 met with an accident over the French Alps, Germanwings put the toll at 150. Earlier, media reports said the plane carried 142 passengers and a crew of six. The identities of the passengers have not been disclosed and the cause of the accident remained unclear.
The plane was flying from Barcelona in Spain to Duesseldorf in Germany when it crashed around 11 am in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the southern French Alps. There were 144 passengers and six crew members on board, Germanwings said in a joint statement with its parent company Lufthansa.
“We must confirm to our deepest regret that Germanwings Flight 4U9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf has suffered an accident over the French Alps,” the statement posted on their Twitter accounts read. Germanwings and Lufthansa have set up a free hotline with number 0800-11335577 for families of passengers involved for care and assistance.
“Everyone at Germanwings and Lufthansa is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members,” the companies said. French President Hollande said there might be no survivors from the ill-fated passenger jet.
In a brief statement, Hollande said: “The conditions of the accident, which are not yet clear, suggest there would be no survivors in this tragedy that happened in France.” Hollande also expressed France’s solidarity with Germany, Spain and the family members of the victims of the crash.
Earlier on Tuesday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement that Chancellor Angela Angela Merkel was deeply shocked at the plane crash, and had already made phone calls to French President Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The chancellor has cancelled other appointments for the day and would keep informed on the latest development in the coming hours, Seibert said.
The German ambassador in Paris was on way to the crash site, according to the statement.
Five major aviation
Disasters since 2014
In the past one year, several air crashes have claimed hundreds of lives. Here’s a chronology of five major air disasters since 2014:
March 2015 (Germanwings Airbus A320)
An Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings, flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf crashed in the French Alps in Southern France on 24 March, 2015. There were 148 on board and all are feared dead.
December 2014 (AirAsia QZ8501)
On December 28, 2014, an AirAsia flight flying from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 155 passengers and seven crew members on board. Following the crash, a massive search and rescue operation was carried out which resulted in the recovery of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
July 2014 (Air Algerie AH5071)
Air Algerie AH5071 crashed near Mali due to poor weather on July 24, 2014. The international passenger flight was heading to Algiers from Ouagadougou carrying 116 passengers.
July 2014 (Malaysia Airlines MH17)
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down near Grabove in eastern Ukraine on 17 July, 2014. The plane lost contact about 50 km from the Ukraine-Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. All 298 passengers lost their lives in this incident.
March 2014 (Malaysia Airlines MH370)
Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared strangely while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport, China, on March 8, 2014. The crash led to the largest international aviation searches in history. Despite all the effort, no trace of the missing aircraft has been found. All 239 people on board are now presumed dead.
The plane was flying from Barcelona in Spain to Duesseldorf in Germany when it crashed around 11 am in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the southern French Alps. There were 144 passengers and six crew members on board, Germanwings said in a joint statement with its parent company Lufthansa.
“We must confirm to our deepest regret that Germanwings Flight 4U9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf has suffered an accident over the French Alps,” the statement posted on their Twitter accounts read. Germanwings and Lufthansa have set up a free hotline with number 0800-11335577 for families of passengers involved for care and assistance.
“Everyone at Germanwings and Lufthansa is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members,” the companies said. French President Hollande said there might be no survivors from the ill-fated passenger jet.
In a brief statement, Hollande said: “The conditions of the accident, which are not yet clear, suggest there would be no survivors in this tragedy that happened in France.” Hollande also expressed France’s solidarity with Germany, Spain and the family members of the victims of the crash.
Earlier on Tuesday, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said in a statement that Chancellor Angela Angela Merkel was deeply shocked at the plane crash, and had already made phone calls to French President Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The chancellor has cancelled other appointments for the day and would keep informed on the latest development in the coming hours, Seibert said.
The German ambassador in Paris was on way to the crash site, according to the statement.
Five major aviation
Disasters since 2014
In the past one year, several air crashes have claimed hundreds of lives. Here’s a chronology of five major air disasters since 2014:
March 2015 (Germanwings Airbus A320)
An Airbus A320 operated by Germanwings, flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf crashed in the French Alps in Southern France on 24 March, 2015. There were 148 on board and all are feared dead.
December 2014 (AirAsia QZ8501)
On December 28, 2014, an AirAsia flight flying from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore plunged into the Java Sea, killing all 155 passengers and seven crew members on board. Following the crash, a massive search and rescue operation was carried out which resulted in the recovery of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.
July 2014 (Air Algerie AH5071)
Air Algerie AH5071 crashed near Mali due to poor weather on July 24, 2014. The international passenger flight was heading to Algiers from Ouagadougou carrying 116 passengers.
July 2014 (Malaysia Airlines MH17)
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down near Grabove in eastern Ukraine on 17 July, 2014. The plane lost contact about 50 km from the Ukraine-Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. All 298 passengers lost their lives in this incident.
March 2014 (Malaysia Airlines MH370)
Malaysia Airlines MH370 disappeared strangely while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia to Beijing Capital International Airport, China, on March 8, 2014. The crash led to the largest international aviation searches in history. Despite all the effort, no trace of the missing aircraft has been found. All 239 people on board are now presumed dead.